My Dilemma
by GingerFlight
Summary: So. My new boyfriend cheated on me, I got kicked off So Random, crazy Penelope broke out of jail and still wants to kill me, and I have to live with my ex boyfriend for my protection. Oh, and apparently I still have feelings for my said ex! Fun week, huh?
1. Cheating Cheater

_**Summary: So. My boyfriend cheated on me, I got kicked off So Random, crazy Penelope broke out of jail and still wants to kill me, and I have to live with my ex-boyfriend for my protection. Oh, and apparently I still have feelings for the my said ex! Fun week, huh? **_

**Hey there, guys! c: I had this story idea about a month and a half ago when I first listened to Selena Gomez's song "My Dilemma"(which fits Sonny and Chad pretty well), but I only just started writing this recently because I've been busy with my other stories. **

**I'm actually really excited for this one. :D I'm aiming for it to be sort of exciting, less lighthearted with my usual stories, and filled with Channy goodness. Don't worry, though, there's gonna be humor in here, too. I can't write any stories without humorous things happening at random moments. xD**

**This story takes place two months after Sonny and Chad broke up. c: **

**Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Sonny's POV<strong>

"Hey. Put it down."

He stared up at me, his head tilted slightly, like he wasn't sure what to make of me. Which was ridiculous, of course. He knows who I am. So why was he making this so difficult?

I tried again. "Gassie. Please put down my - " I hadn't even finished my sentence when Gassie turned and bounded off, with my cellphone in his mouth. I groaned. Great. Now I'd have to chase him. Hopefully Bella wasn't lurking around nearby, because I had no desire to get yelled at for scaring off the tooting pooch. I let out a puff of air before running off in the direction Gassie had gone. "Gas-SEH! Sit! Stay! Heel! Play dead! No, wait, don't play dead!" I yelled as I ran.

As I turned a corner, I saw Gassie skid to a stop by a pair of legs. He let out a muffled bark and wagged his tail. I didn't know who the legs belonged to, because I was focused completely on getting my phone back.

I dove to the floor by Gassie and managed to pry my phone out of his mouth. "Yes!" I held up my phone triumphantly, ignoring the fact that there was dog drool all over it. "I got it!" I stood up, dusting off my faded blue jeans, and beamed proudly. Finally, I could text Patrick back. Yes!

I looked up gratefully, all set to thank the person who'd blocked Gassie's path. But the words died on my mouth.

"Hey, Sonny." Chad Dylan Cooper shoved his hands in his pockets and gave me the most adorable smile I've ever seen. Chad Dylan Cooper, the guy who'd been the first half of Channy (the second half being me). Chad Dylan Cooper, possibly one of the biggest jerks on the planet (though he could occassionally be sweet).

Chad Dylan Cooper, my ex-boyfriend.

Just the person I wanted to bump into.

Not.

"Oh. Hi, Chad." I fidgeted awkwardly and pushed back my hair. "Um, how's it going?" I asked, trying to be friendly.

He shrugged. "It's going good, I guess."

"Good..." I nodded slowly and gazed at him. He gazed right back, not saying anything. Ok. Silent stares. This did not help the situation at all.

Really, you'd think that after two months of being broken up, everything would be ok-ish between us. And it was. Sort of. Kind of. Not really. I mean, sure, we smiled at each other when we happened to cross paths, and sometimes we even talked about the weather. But... well, it wasn't the same. We couldn't exactly go back to being frenemies, and being totally relaxed around each other, the way we'd been when we were dating, was pretty much out of the question. No more daily arguments. No more hugs, or shortstacks, or anything from our past relationship. Just... this.

Basically, it was awkward. Very, very awkward.

"So what're you doing over here at So Random?" I asked. I glanced around to check and see if any of my castmates were nearby. They weren't. Too bad, I could've used some backup right then.

"Sonny, you know you shouldn't question what Chad Dylan Cooper does," he said, giving me a slight smirk, a hint of his usual self showing. I couldn't help but smile a bit. "Right." Then I shook my head and glanced down at my phone. "Um, well, I sort of have to go. I promised I'd meet Patrick at The Patio, and I'm already running late."

The teasing smile slipped off Chad's face, replaced by a blank expression. "Patrick. Of course," he said in an emotionless voice, the same voice he always used every time I brought up my current boyfriend, Patrick Myers.

What? I had to move on eventually. I couldn't just sit there writing songs about Chad and moping over him every minute of the day. Not that I ever did that or anything... oh, who am I kidding, of course I did. Still, though, it was pathetic.

And then I happened to meet Patrick one day, things sort of clicked, and now we were dating. He was a good guy. Was he someone I could see myself being truly happy with? I dunno, I'd have to wait and see. Did I like him as much as I'd liked Chad? Heck, do I still even like _Chad_?

...I refuse to answer either of those questions. And I certainly won't come to terms with my "conflicting emotions", no matter what Mel says.

Anyway.

"Yep." I nodded like a stupid little bobblehead, forcing a smile onto my face.

Chad blinked at me, and for a second he looked like he wanted to say something. I suddenly found myself wishing for him to start acting jealous like he'd did that one time with the Kiss Cam, to yell at me that he didn't want me going on a date with this guy and that he wanted me back. Something. Anything.

But then the moment passed, and Chad just gave me a short nod in reply. "Ok, then. Good."

I opened my mouth to reply with a half-hearted 'good', but he was already off.

I stared at the place where he'd been for a long while until I heard a gentle bark at my side, and something cold and wet nudged my hand. I looked down to see Gassie bumping my hand with his nose and woofing softly. I'd forgotten that he was even there. I bent down and stroked his fur, murmuring, "Good boy." I glanced back at the place where Chad had been, then looked at Gassie as he barked again and said aloud, "Gassie, I know what Mel said, I do. But, I mean, maybe she was wrong. People are wrong sometimes. I'm sure I don't still have feelings for Chad. I've got Patrick now, I don't need Chad. Right?"

Gassie farted his approval and wagged his tail, his tongue lolling out happily. I smiled. "Right. No more feelings at all. I'm done with CDC."

And yet as I returned back to the set to put Gassie back in his mini dressing room, a little voice nagged in the back of my head, saying softly, _You've always been a terrible liar, Sonny. Especially to yourself._

_~.M.y.D.i.L.e.M.m.A.~_

When I got back from my lunch date with Patrick, I felt a bit happier. Meeting with him for lunch had definitely been a great stress reliever. We ate sandwiches, drank some hot cocoa, and talked and laughed. Mel had even passed by and joked, "You two lovebirds need to quit laughing so loudly, customers are starting to complain." Patrick made me feel warm and happy. It wasn't exactly the same way I felt with Chad, but it was enough. I was convinced that he was the perfect guy for me.

Until I arrived back at the studio the next morning.

The minute I walked into the Prop House I regretted it. All my castmates, who had been group rumbling amongst themselves (again) shut up the second I stepped inside and stared at me with grim expressions on their faces. It made me feel uncomfortable. "What?" I asked uncertainly.

More stares.

I laughed nervously. "I'm pretty sure I put on all my clothes this morning... this isn't my hat dream, is it?" I glanced behind me to make sure that no Tawni and Grady look alikes were going to pop out and scare me.

Tawni gave me a strained smile. "Hey, Sonny! Isn't it a lovely morning?"

I blinked at her, surprised. The first thing Tawni does every morning is comment about how ugly my choice of clothes is. This particular greeting was completely new for me. "Tawni, is everything ok?" I asked, coming to sit on the couch beside her.

I saw Grady and Nico exchange glances. "Um... hey, wanna see my new temporary tattoo?" Grady asked, fake enthusiasm plastered all over his face. "I think it's gonna make Mel think I'm really tough!"

Immediately Tawni and Nico started to nod and make noises of agreement, and that's when I knew they were hiding something from me. "Guys, stop it!" I commanded, which made them shut up and give me nervous glances. I toned it down a bit and tried to keep my temper in check. Nowadays it's a bit hard to control my temper, for some reason. "What's going on?"

"Pfft. There ain't nothing going on." Nico let out a laugh that sounded forced.

Tawni gave me an innocent smile. "We have absolutely no idea what you're talking about, Sonny. Hey, let's watch Tween Weekly TV! I heard they're doing a special on Brad and Angelina today, and I really want to - "

"Please tell me," I practically begged, now dying to know why they were trying to keep secrets from me. They exchanged looks again.

From beside Nico, Zora rested her arms on the edge of the sofa and sighed, speaking for the first time since I entered the room, "Tell her, Nico. Tell her what she needs to hear."

"She's not gonna like what she needs to hear," Grady said unhappily.

"She can take it," Zora argued. I watched them curiously. "Guys?"

"If you don't tell her, I will," Zora said, huffing.

"No, I will! I'm her best friend," Tawni said, narrowing her eyes at Zora. Normally the fact that Tawni said that would warm my heart, since she hardly ever says that in front of me, but this time I didn't really care. "Would someone just tell me?"

Nico hesitated, then pulled his phone out of his pocket. "Grady and I were checking out some tugboats," he started off haltingly. "And, er, we saw something... interesting."

"Very interesting," Grady added.

I nodded slowly, not getting it. "Go on..."

Nico fiddled with his phone a bit, then silently handed it to me. I took it, still clueless, then looked down at it. And stared.

"We didn't want to tell you," Nico babbled. "After the whole thing with Chip Drama Pants, we figured you'd take it badly and it would mess things up, but - "

I blocked the rest of his words out of my mind and just gazed numbly down at the picture of Patrick, my boyfriend, kissing some other girl on the sidewalk. Out in the open. In public. They weren't even bothering to hide. I suddenly felt like screaming or throwing a lamp at a wall or something. So many emotions were running through me at that moment... anger, sadness, frustration, and some other emotion I couldn't place... something like... relief? Makes no sense, but that's what it felt like. But overall I just felt upset. And numb.

"Sonny?" asked Tawni in an oddly soft voice, putting her hand on my shoulder. "Are you ok?"

I lifted my head to focus my gaze on her, then heard myself say, "Of course. My boyfriend's cheating on me. No problem. That's great, isn't it?" I laughed. Thinking back on it, I probably sounded delirious. My friends exchanged worried looks again as I stood up a bit unsteadily and handed Nico his cell phone back. "You guys are making a big deal out of nothing. With the way my life is going right now, this is something everyone probably saw coming! Right?"

"Maybe we shouldn't have shown it to her..." Zora mumbled.

"Ya think?" Nico asked sarcastically.

I backed out of the room, still smiling hugely at them. "It's fine, really. Everything's fine. I'm fine," I repeated, then suddenly turned and ran out of there, unable to stand their concerned expressions and they're stares and... and... argh! It was so frustrating!

I charged into my dressing room, locking both doors, then launched myself onto the couch and hugged my song pillow to my chest, squeezing my eyes tightly shut. I tried to think of happy thoughts. Who knows, maybe if I thought some really, really happy thoughts, I could fly off to Neverland and escape all this.

"I'm fine," I lied to myself, clutching my pillow and trying to push down the feeling of despair that was threatening to overwhelm me. Heck, I wasn't fine. First I'm forced to break up with my boyfriend. Then my new boyfriend decides to go put his tongue in some random girl's mouth. Life just couldn't give me a break, could it?

"Well, you know, Sonny, it can't get any worse than this," I said dryly, raising my eyes to the ceiling and trying to look at the bright side of things (which wasn't that bright at all, really. It was more like a very, very dimly lit side of things)

I was wrong, of course. I was totally and completely wrong.

I didn't know it yet, but the fun had only just begun.

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><p><strong>Did I mention I'm really, really excited for this story? Well, I am. :D <strong>

**Thank you for reading! And please review. I'd really appreciate any feedback and constructive criticism I get. ;)**

**Peace out, suckas!**

**~Ginger**


	2. Certifiably Insane

**Two updates in one day? :o Well, heck.**

**I'm glad I've gotten positive feedback so far. :'D Thanks to everyone who reviewed and alerted and such! I hope you guys enjoy this next chapter. c:**

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><p>I paced back in forth in front of the couch, then figured pacing wasn't really going to help my situation. So I sat down. But almost instantly I hopped back up again and resumed pacing, just to have something do. I chewed on my bottom lip and stared down at my black and white phone, wondering if I should call Patrick back or not.<p>

It'd been two days since my friends revealed that my boyfriend was cheating on me. I was currently pacing nervously around my apartment, feeling torn over what I was going to do. On the one hand I could return Patrick's calls, and then I could yell at him that we were over. But that seemed sort of cruel. Or I could try to arrange for us to meet somewhere, but what if he broke up with me first? That would be humiliating. If anyone had to end our relationship, it would be _me_.

But at the same time I didn't want to break up with him. I guess I was half hoping that maybe the guy in the picture was some other guy who just looked exactly like him, and that Patrick really was a nice guy and I could continue having a nice, normal little relationship with him.

Of course, I knew that wasn't true. It's not possible for two people to look _that _alike. Well, with the exception of Chad and his stunt double, Chaz. But still.

I replayed the voicemail that Patrick had left me and listened as his deep, smooth voice said, "Hey, Sonny, how's it going? I've been calling you all day. Do you want to go see a movie later? So, uh, call me when you get this message. I miss you. Bye."

Oh, yes. I'm sure he missed me very much.

In frustration, I tossed my phone onto the sofa and muttered, "This is stupid." I took a deep breath, trying to calm down. I half wished I could talk to Tawni about all this, but I was sort of scared that she'd start acting all weird and comforting again. Not that that's a bad thing, but it's just... disturbing. I figured I could maybe call Lucy, but I didn't want to bother my happy-go-lucky friend with my problems.

Wait. I lifted my head and stared at my ceiling. _Maybe there is someone I can talk to..._

I raced to my bedroom, grabbed my guitar, and then rushed back into the living room area. Plopping myself onto the couch, I strummed a few chords to make sure it was in tune, then promptly began to belt out the song I'd written two months ago.

_"Tell me what to do, ooh_

_About you_

_I already know I can see in your eyes_

_When you're tellin' the truth."_

I hadn't gotten very far into the song when there was a knock on my door. I practically tripped over myself to go answer the door. Just as I'd hoped, Mel was standing outside my door, her arms folded across her chest and an exasperated look on her face. "Gee, Sonny, if you want to talk to me you can just knock on my door instead of making all that racket. You do realize that, right?"

I smiled. Ah, Mel. I've discovered lately that I can always count on her for anything, despite her constant sarcasm. "This way's more fun," I joked. Then I remembered what I wanted to talk about, and my smile slipped off my face. "Come on in, Mel."

Mel stepped inside and made her way over to my couch, saying, "Hey, since you made me come down here, do you think you can bring me some root beer? I'm really thirsty."

I nodded. Mel gave me a thumbs up, then picked up the remote control and turned on the TV. I headed into the kitchen and pulled out a can of root beer from the fridge, then brought it over to her and settled onto the couch beside her.

Mel took the can from me and popped open the lid, took a sip, then glanced over at me. "So what do you want now?"

"What makes you think I want something?" I asked, attempting to be nonchalant. She raised her eyebrow, giving me an 'Are you serious?' look, and I sighed. "I just want to talk about Patrick."

She smiled. "Oh, I like Patrick, he's sweet."

"Yeah, he's sweet, all right," I said, rolling my eyes. "Sweet on another girl."

She looked confused, and then her eyes widened as she understood what I was saying. "No way! He cheated on you?"

I nodded miserably. "Yeah. Nico and Grady saw him kissing another girl out in public. They even took a picture to prove it."

Mel visibly perked up when I mentioned Grady, who she has a huge crush on (which I think is really sweet), and she asked eagerly, "Did Grady mention me?"

I frowned at her, and she held up her hands apologetically. "Sorry, I got distracted." She was quiet for a second, then she scoffed. "Sheesh. I can't believe I thought he was a nice guy."

"Me, too," I sighed.

She smirked. "Well, you're very good at picking out boyfriends, Sonny. First that James guy you told me about, then Chaddy Chad Chad," -that made me smile- ",and now this jerk."

I shrugged. "What can I say? It's a gift."

She laughed and started to flip through the channels on the TV. "So have you broken up with him yet?"

I hesitated. "Um, well... no."

She stopped and stared at me. "No?" She sounded shocked. I couldn't blame her. "Well, what're you waiting for? Dump him now! Give 'im a taste of his own medicine!" Before I could say anything, she snatched up my cell phone and waved it in front of my face. "Here, call him."

"No way!" I yelled, my eyes wide. "I'm not going to break up with him over the phone!"

"Why not?"

"Well, I don't want to sink down to his level. And I don't want to hurt his feelings," I said defensively.

Mel shook her head in disbelief. "Allison Munroe, you are too damn nice for your own good." I opened my mouth to protest the use of the cuss word, but she wagged a finger at me to stop me from talking. "Look, if you don't want to do it, then I'll call him and do the breakup for you. How about that?"

"I appreciate that, Mel, but I think I probably have to handle it myself. I don't really know how to do that, though," I admitted. "I mean, before I found out that he was a cheating cheater, he was really good to me. What he did really hurt, yeah, but I don't want to be harsh on him or anything."

"Oh, please," Mel said, rolling her eyes and returning her attention to the TV. "He deserves to be dumped in the harshest way possible. Trust me, Sonny, I've been there before. I know."

I sighed again. Well, that wasn't exactly the answer to my problem that I'd been hoping for. "Oh, well. I guess I'll just wait until the time's right."

"The time is right now," Mel argued.

"Your argument is invalid," I said in a monotone, and she cracked an amused smile. "Yeah, ok. Whatever. I'm still right, though. Ooh, I wonder what's on the news?"

I laughed at her abrupt change of subject, then got up and headed back into the kitchen to go get a snack. "Hey, Mel, do you wanna watch a movie or something? I rented _The Proposal _a few days ago, so..."

"Yeah, that'd be cool," Mel interrupted me. "I've always wanted to see that movie."

"It's really funny, you'll like it," I said distractedly, pulling out Mom's not-so-secret stash of chocolate chip cookies from behind the bags of flour in the cabinet.

Suddenly Mel called, "Hey, Sonny, check out this chick on TV! Talk about a bad hair day!" She started to giggle.

I shoved a cookie into my mouth, then headed back into the living room, sat down, and looked at the TV, which was on the local news station. "What chick?"

"They'll probably show her picture again," Mel said, grinning broadly.

I turned my attention to the news guy on the TV, who was just saying in a serious voice, "Marta Balatico, certifiably insane former actress, broke out of prison just this morning. Police suspect that she managed to somehow grab ahold of a guard's keys, freed herself, and then knocked out the guard on duty at the time."

Mel whistled. "Well, heck. This Marta girl sounds really tough."

I frowned. "She's a former actress? I've never heard of her before."

Mel shrugged. "Her picture looked kind of familiar, but I don't remember where I've seen her."

I listened intently to the guy on the news, just catching his next words, " - appears to have vanished. Police are searching high and low for Balatico, who was arrested six months ago for attempted murder."

Marta Balatico's picture appeared beside the newscaster. She sure looked insane. And Mel was right, she appeared awfully familiar, but I couldn't place where I'd seen her before. She looked about my age, with incredibly curly, mussed up brown hair and a pale face. She might've been pretty, except it was obvious that she hadn't taken care of herself in a long while. And the glare on her face was terrifying. Frightening, even. It gave me the shivers.

I racked my brain, trying to remember who this person was. Had I met her before at a Hollywood party? Had she been in a movie I'd watched?

"If any have information of Balatico's whereabouts, please contact your local police station," the newscaster went on in a grim voice.

Mel nudged me with her shoulder and laughed loudly. "Hah, you saw her hair, right? Sheesh, prison must really change a person. I'd hate to bump into her on the street, or else she'd probably - " Then she quit talking and peered at me. "Hey, Sonny, are you ok?"

I barely heard her. I just stared at the TV, where Marta's picture had been seconds ago. My stomach felt like someone had suddenly tied all my insides together in a ginormous knot, and my mouth had opened slightly in shock. Because I'd managed to piece two and two together, and I now knew exactly where I'd seen Marta before. I felt sick.

"Sonny?" Mel asked again, now sounding concerned.

Along with the feeling of wanting to throw up, I felt numb again, like I had when I found out that Patrick was a cheating cheater. Except this was worse. Much, much worse. "Oh my God," I murmured. My face felt completely drained of color. "It's her."

"What're you yapping about?" Mel asked in bemusement.

I turned my head to stare at her. My voice sounded unnaturally high when I spoke next, "She's back. She's out and now she's back."

"Sonny, you're starting to scare me."

I got to my feet so fast that Mel jumped in surprise. Shaken, I snatched up my phone, I rushed into my bedroom, grabbed my car keys and my coat, and then ran to the door. "I'm sorry, Mel, I have to go," I said breathlessly. "I'll call you later. I'm so sorry."

Before Mel could say anything, I barged out of the room. The echo of the loud slam the door made behind me gave me the chills. _I have to get to the studio. This can't be real. Someone's pranking me. Probably Chad. She can't have really broken out, it's just not possible, _I reassured myself over and over as I hurriedly descended the stairs.

Because I knew why Marta Balatico looked so familar. Six months ago, Marta Balatico had tried to frame me, and then she tried to blow me to cheesy bits at my old high school.

Yeah, I knew her very well.

It was Penelope.

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><p><strong>Oooh. <strong>

**Of course, I'm sure everyone saw that coming, but still. :D The chapters will eventually get longer, by the way. **

**Review please? :'3 I'd be incredibly happy if you did.**

**Well, bye for now!**

**~Ginger**


	3. Thoughtful Threat

**Yes, I updated two stories in one day! I feel so accomplished. ;_;**

**Thank you to all the wonderful people who've reviewed, and to everyone who's supporting my story so far! I'm so happy you guys are finding it interesting. I was sort of afraid that my attempt at a story like this would fail and everyone would immediately hate it. xD**

**Well, enjoy!**

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><p>I walked quickly through the studio hallway, seething with anger. Halfway through my drive to Condor Studios, I'd somehow managed to convince myself that the whole Penelope-breaking-out-of-prison thing was just an elaborate scheme that Chad had concocted to spite me. Why? I didn't know. Not that it mattered, because it had to have been Chad who'd done this. And if he hadn't made this all up, then... well, I didn't even want to think about the other possibility. It freaked me out too much.<p>

Therefore, it had to be the work of CDC. It just had to be.

I turned a corner and stopped short, my eyes widening as I saw my picture on Chad's Do Not Admit wall. My picture. On his wall. _Me_. How dare he!

Fuming, I barged past the security guard that was sleeping at his post, pushed open the doors, and stormed into the room. "Chad Dylan Cooper, I need to talk to you right now!" I burst out angrily, glaring around the room.

I half expected everyone to ignore me and just go about their business as usual. But I guess my sudden dramatic entrance did the trick, because every head in the room turned to stare at me. Including the blond head of my ex-boyfriend, which whipped around so fast that I was afraid his neck would snap in two. "Sonny?" he asked, his eyes wide in surprise.

I gritted my teeth and began to stride over to him, but Devon, Trevor, and Chloe blocked my path. "Get out of here, Random," Devon spat, giving me the stink eye. "No one wants you here."

"I realized that when I saw my picture up on Chad's banned wall," I shot back, glaring over his shoulder at Chad, who was standing behind his castmates looking bewildered. "Your picture isn't on my banned wall," he said.

"We took the liberty of putting her picture up for you," Trevor said smugly. That new piece of information made me feel a bit less mad towards Chad, but not by much. "Now beat it."

I stood my ground firmly. "No."

Chloe, who I'd once considered my friend back when Chad and I were dating, frowned at me. "Please leave before I call security," she said curtly, no hint of friendliness whatsoever in her gaze. I felt a tiny pang of hurt and regret, but my anger and stubbornness won out. I didn't move. "Good luck with that, since your security is snoozing on the job," I retorted in the same tone she was using.

She narrowed her eyes at me and opened her mouth, probably to reply or to yell for the security guard. But Chad shoved past Trevor and Devon and rested a hand on her shoulder. "It's fine, Chloe, she can stay," he said in surprisingly calm voice, giving me a look so intense that I was forced to turn my head away.

Chloe huffed. "Hmph. I hope you know what you're doing, Chad." She tossed her light hair over her shoulder, turned, and walked off to join that one Mack Falls girl who never speaks over on the couch.

Trevor and Devon exchanged glances. "Last episode of the season starts shooting in a few minutes, so make this quick," Devon told Chad, sending me another glare. Then he and Trevor walked off, too.

"I need to talk to you," I repeated once they were gone. Before I could get any farther, though, Chad put a finger on my lips to shush me. "Not here," he murmured. "It's not exactly very private, don't you think?" He gestured at all the Mackenzie Falls cast and crew that were gawking at us.

I frowned. I really hate it when he's right. "I guess," I admitted grudgingly.

He put his hand on the small on my back (his touch sort of gave me the shivers, actually. Not that I'd ever admit that to anyone) and steered me out of the set, into the hallway. Once we were outside away from the ears of his castmates, I pulled away from him and started to speak once more. Yet again, he shushed me. "You don't want to wake the guard, do you?" he asked, pointing at the still sleeping security guard. Before I could protest, he tugged me off farther down the hallway, then stopped by a door and opened it. "After you, m'lady," he said smoothly.

I glared at him, annoyed that he was calling me his m'lady again, then turned my gaze on the door. "A janitor's closet? This is your idea of private?" I asked in exasperation.

A hint of a smirk appeared on his face. "Do you want to talk or not?"

I huffed and walked into the closet, pushing aside some brooms and mops to make room for myself. Chad stepped in after me, flipped the light switch, and closed the door behind him. And then we were alone in that tiny, cramped space. Talk about awkward. As it was, though, I was too ticked off to actually notice the awkwardness of being pressed up against my ex in a teeny tiny closet. Good thing I didn't notice, otherwise I might've been too embarassed to give him a piece of my mind.

"What is your problem?" I snapped once I'd gotten into a comfortable-ish position.

"Why do our conversations always start out like this?" he asked dryly.

"Chad, this isn't funny. You've got a wacked up sense of humor, you know that? I mean, maybe you and your cast might think saying something like that on TV is hilarious, but it's not! It gave me a real scare." I folded my arms across my chest. "If this is your idea of a joke, then you're failing miserably."

There was a moment's silence, during which Chad just stared at me. Then, finally... "Huh?"

"You heard me."

"Sonny, I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about."

"Oh, don't pretend to be innocent."

"But I am!" he protested.

"Sure. So you're telling me that you had absolutely nothing to do with what was on the news today?" I asked, not believing him at all.

"Of course not," he scoffed, then frowned. "Why, what was on the news?"

I ignored his question. "I'm being serious, Chad. I didn't think that what you got them to say on the news about Penelope breaking out of jail was very amusing. I mean, I guess I have to give you props for how real it looked, but - "

"Penelope _what?_" His shocked voice cut through my babble, and I paused to study him. His face was the picture of total surprise, and he looked like he'd never heard of this before. "What're you talking about?"

"You know what I'm talking about," I said accusingly.

"No, I really don't." He shook his head, and his face looked awfully pale in the dim light. "Are you sure that's what it said? Penelope actually broke out? How is that possible?"

My anger abruptly evaporated when I took in how worried he looked. "Wait. So you had nothing to do with this?"

"Of course not," he snapped. "Why would I have anything to do with that? I can't believe you'd even think I'd be involved with this. Is that really what you think of me, Sonny?" I flinched at how incredibly angry he looked all of a sudden. "I'm sorry," I murmured. "I just thought... well, I didn't want to think of the other option."

Chad closed his eyes and covered his face with one hand. I rubbed my arms and shuffled my feet, waiting for him to say something. Just when I thought he'd never answer, he lifted his head. He didn't look mad anymore, just... neutral. I couldn't read his expression. "Are you sure that's what it said?"

"Yes," I said softly. "Do you think it's true?"

"I don't think the news would lie about something to do with her," he remarked.

Dread filled me and made my stomach clench again. "Chad, you don't think she'd try and come after me again, do you?"

He looked uncertain for a moment, then shook his head resolutely. "Of course not. We're not dating anymore, so there'd be no reason for her to try anything on you."

What he said made sense. But at the same time I felt a nagging suspicion at the back of my mind. I mean, didn't certifiably insane people like to do things that no one could understand? That's the way it was in movies, anyway.

But instead of voicing my thoughts, I just nodded. "That's true. Um, sorry for taking you away from your rehearsal."

"It's fine. I probably would've done the same thing," he said emotionlessly.

I looked up at him and involuntarily met his gaze. I stared into the blue depths of his eyes and remembered how he'd once told me that getting lost in his eyes would lead to me falling in love with him. I wonder if he even realized how right he'd been about that. _What happened to us? _I thought unhappily. _Why did things have to end this way?_

"Is that it?" Chad's words cut through my thoughts. "I have to go back to the set now."

"Oh, yeah. Of course." It was getting hard to breathe in that closet, anyway. I fumbled with the doorknob for a second, then opened the door and walked out as casually as I possibly could. Chad followed me, straightening his tie and smoothing back his hair before making his way back to the set. I walked wordlessly alongside him until we got back to the sleeping security guard. Then Chad stopped, turned to me, and said, "Don't worry about Penelope, ok? She wouldn't dare try to hurt you."

"Yeah." I forced out a laugh. "What was I thinking? Obviously I wasn't thinking, because - "

"Sonny, I really have to go," he cut me off.

"Right..." I lowered my gaze and frowned down at my hands.

Without warning, he reached over, tilted my chin up, and said, "Smile. Everything'll be fine."

Yeah, sure. He wasn't the one who had a cheating cheater for a boyfriend (not that Chad would ever have a boyfriend, because he's not gay, but... well, you get the picture), and he wasn't the one nearly gotten blown up by a girl who'd just escaped from prison.

I gave him a weak smile anyway, then said, "Bye, Chad." I turned and started to walk off down the hall.

As I reached the corner, I couldn't help but pause and look back, just in time to see Chad take my picture off the banned wall, crumple it up in his hand, and toss it aside.

I turned away and trudged off to the So Random set, feeling as though he'd just crumpled and tossed aside my heart.

_~.M.y.D.i.L.e.M.m.A.~_

"And this is the So Random stage, where we perform all our sketches," I told the reporter in a perky voice, giving him a big smile as he nodded and moved the microphone away from my face, while the cameraman stood behind him and filmed us.

It'd been a few days since I'd found out that Penelope had broken out of prison, and life at the studio had gone on as usual. I hadn't broken up with Patrick yet, though, mostly because I was too cowardly to end another relationship. I mean, I'd already ended it with Chad, and having to break up with someone else just felt like too much. Both Mel and Tawni were the only ones who continually offered to break up with him for me. I knew they had good intentions, but I couldn't let them do that, so each time they suggested it I politely declined.

Today was different, though, because it was the day the reporter from Tween Weekly came to do a special on me, my castmates, and our show in general. I'd been half hoping that the reporter would be Santiago Heraldo, because even though he was classified as one of the meanest reporters in Hollywood, I'd had fairly good experiences with him in the past (not counting the time when Chad made me look like a diva on TV). But this reporter was someone I'd never seen before in my life. Maybe he was new? I don't really know. But so long as he wasn't Ryan Loughlin, that was fine by me.

"Thank you for the tour, Sonny," said the reporter, and I gave him a bigger smile in response. My smile faded slightly at what he said next, though. "Your show really is the bomb. Speaking of bombs, have you heard that Marta Balatico recently broke out of prison?"

"Um, yes," I said, nodding.

"Any thoughts on this shocking piece of news?" he went on, holding out the microphone to me again. I stared blankly at the camera for a second with no clue what to say. Luckily for me, Tawni happened to pass by at that moment, and she spazzed out when she saw the camera. "Ooh, a camera!" she said excitedly, flipping her hair and shoving me aside so she could be in the view of the lens. "Were you talking about me?" she asked, batting her eyelashes.

"Actually, no," the reporter said bluntly, and Tawni visibly deflated.

"Hey, um, how about I give you the tour of the snack table?" I asked quickly, desperately trying to avoid the subject of Penelope or Marta or whatever the heck her name is.

"What about your ex-boyfriend, Chad Dylan Cooper?" the reporter went on, and I froze. "He was at the scene of the attempted murder. What are _his _thoughts on this?"

I felt my face burning under Tawni's curious gaze and the keen eye of the reporter, not to mention the camera that was filming all this. "Oh. Well, I, uh, I mean... you'll have to, uh, ask him, I guess," I stammered, nervously fiddling with my honey colored hair.

The reporter looked a bit disappointed that I didn't have any dirt on Chad, but he thankfully changed the subject. "So tell us about your new boyfriend, Sonny. Patrick Myers is his name, right?"

All right, so the new subject he was on wasn't much better, either. "Uh..."

"What Sonny means to say is... things are going great with her boyfriend," Tawni interrupted. The cameraman focused on her, and she smiled and waved primly at the camera. "Now who wants to talk about me? I've recently started a new campaign against skinny jeans that you might be interested to know about..."

"Fan mail for Tawni Hart and Sonny Munroe," came a voice from beside me. Tawni and I turned to face Josh, the mail delivery guy at Condor Studios. I gratefully took my stack of fanmail from him, while Tawni eagerly snatched hers up and promptly began reading one letter aloud to the camera.

While the reporter and the camera guy was focused on Tawni, I sifted through my stack of mail, smiling at one letter that's envelope was covered with tiny pen drawings of grinning suns wearing sunglasses.

One other letter caught my eye, which was strange, since it wasn't exactly eye catching. It was just a plain, white piece of paper that had been folded and messily taped together at the ends. On the front was my name, Allison Munroe, in red ink.

I stared at my name for a second, then pried away the tape and opened up the letter. I read it. And then afterwards I felt like someone had dropped a weight into my stomach.

Clutching the edges of the paper so tightly I thought I might accidentally rip the letter apart, I reread the message, hoping maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me and I had read wrong. But it was the same as the first time.

_I'm going to kill you. ~ M_

Short, simple, to the point.

It didn't exactly take a rocket scientist to figure out who had sent it.

I dropped the letter as if it was a hot potato and watched it flutter down to my feet, feeling faint. I vaguely heard Tawni say in annoyance, "Sonny, are you even listening to me? I'm trying to talk to you." Then her tone changed abruptly as she took in my expression. "Sonny, what is it?"

I turned to look at her, then down at the letter. Ignoring the camera and the reporter, I pointed at the piece of paper with my name on it and said weakly, "Penelope sent me my first death threat. That's kind of thoughtful of her, don't you think?"

With that said, my eyes rolled back into my head, and I promptly passed out.

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><p><strong>Review please? Pretty please? c:<strong>

**And thank you for reading. ^^ Until next time!**

**~Ginger**


	4. Not So Sunny Now

**I got Demi Lovato's new CD! :'D It's absolutely amazing. Like, I seriously can't quit listening to it. I love all the songs, especially Unbroken, Fix A Heart, and In Real Life. But they're all really good. C:**

**Anyway, here's the next chapter! Enjoy!**

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><p>"Guys, I swear, I'm perfectly fine!" I said for about the billionth time, shooting an exasperated look at each of my castmates.<p>

I was curled up on the couch in the Prop House, with Tawni, Nico, Grady, and Zora surrounding me on all sides. For the last few minutes they'd been group rumbling about my health and if I felt dizzy or if I needed anything at all, completely ignoring my constant protests that there was nothing wrong with me.

It's like they thought because I'd fainted I was suddenly fragile and helpless or something. Psh. Well, I guess I couldn't blame them, in a way. When I'd woken up on the floor, I'd been pretty disoriented and had absolutely no idea where I was. Apparently I sort of had a mini-freakout and started to hyperventilate and babble crazy stuff no one could understand (that's what Tawni told me had happened, anyway). I'm guessing that's when everyone figured I needed some special attention. But other than the fact that my head hurt pretty badly, I felt fine. Externally, anyway.

Now while I was ok on the outside, I didn't feel so hot inside. I was still panicking about the whole death threat thing, especially since when Tawni and Marshall had finally managed to wake me up, the letter I'd received had somehow vanished from the spot where I'd dropped it. And the reporter and his cameraguy had also disappeared amidst all the chaos brought on by my little fainting spell.

Coincidence? Hmm...

Anyway, I was pretty positive of one thing: I was now going to stay as far away from fan mail as possible.

"Are you sure?" Grady piped up. "I can go make you a turkey."

"We can put on a puppet show!" Nico added helpfully.

"I can put an order for all your favorite cheeses!" Zora said, holding up her cell phone and looking uncharacteristically worried.

Before I could say anything, Tawni snapped, "Guys, give her some space. Do you want to make her pass out again?" Out of all my fellow castmates, Tawni was the one who was being the most understanding about my situation (shocking, I know), and the one who was sort of shielding me from the others. It was a pretty weird to have Tawni take on the role of concerned best friend/big sister figure, since she _never _acts that way. It was good to know she cared, of course, but at the time I was so stunned by what she'd said that for a second all I could do was gape at her.

Nico, Grady, and Zora immediately backed off, looking as surprised as I felt. "So no turkey?" Grady asked, looking dejected.

Tawni ignored him and turned to me, real concern in her gaze. "Are you sure you're ok?"

I nodded wordlessly.

Tawni studied me for a moment, then averted her attention to the compact mirror she was holding and stretched luxuriously. "Ugh, all this caring for other people is _exhausting_. Maybe that's why you really fainted, Sonny, because of that fat heart you've got," she said distractedly, flipping her hair over her shoulder and blowing a kiss at her reflection.

"Wait, why'd you faint in the first place?" Nico asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

"She got a death threat from Penelope," Tawni informed him before I could answer.

"Penelope?" Nico asked, his eyes widening. "But she's in prison."

Zora whacked Nico over the head. "Don't you watch the news, you doofus?"

"The news is for old people," Nico and Grady scoffed at the same time.

Zora rolled her eyes. "She broke out of jail."

Nico perked up. "Really? Think maybe she'd go out with me now?" This earned him two more whacks over the head, one from Zora and one from Tawni.

I couldn't help but smile at Nico, but I shook my head. "You probably shouldn't get your hopes up, Nico. She's supposed to be more insane now."

"Then maybe she'll be crazy enough to go on a date with me!" Nico exclaimed, beaming. I laughed. "You keep telling yourself that, Nico."

The fact that I was laughing again caused relieved looks to appear on my friends' faces. I hadn't even realized how worried my friends had been about me until then. Jeez, I was such a terrible person for fainting and making them fret needlessly over me. Guilt gnawed at my stomach, making the turmoil inside me feel even worse.

"I'm sorry," I said miserably.

They all stared at me like I was stupid. Maybe I was. "For what?" Tawni asked, delicately raising an eyebrow.

"For being so depressed all the time." I looked down at my hands, ashamed. "I bet it's awful to have to hang around me and deal with my moping. And I didn't mean to make you guys so worried, so I'm sorry about that, too. I swear, I'll try and - " I stopped when I realized they were all laughing at me. Yes, laughing. What the heck? I looked around indignantly. "What?"

"Why are you apologizing?" Tawni shook her head, an amused expression on her face. "You're such an idiot. If anyone deserves to be depressed, it's you. Especially since you're always way too happy." She made a face.

I frowned, confused, as she went on, "Besides, it's not your fault that your boyfriend cheated on you and Penelope still wants to kill you."

"I'd be frowny-faced all the time, too, if something like that happened to me," Grady added, smiling a goofy little smile. Nico and Zora nodded in agreement.

"The point is, we don't care," Tawni finished. "We're still here for you, and we always will be."

"Because we have a code!" Zora said seriously.

Some of the weight from my internal panic lessened, replaced by warmth and affection towards my friends. "Awww," I said, feeling a teeny bit choked up. Tawni suddenly looked horrified. "Oh, God, don't you dare start crying. If you cry I'm going to take back everything I just said."

A tiny giggle escaped from my mouth, and I shook my head and sniffled slightly before saying, "I love you guys." I opened my arms wide. "C'mere, I need to hug you."

"Whoo, group hug!" Grady explained. Tawni protested loudly about how she wasn't a hugger, but everyone ignored her, and pretty soon we were all squashed together in an enormous group hug. I beamed, feeling a lot better, and pulled away from them. Next to me, Tawni spat out some of her hair that had gotten stuck in her mouth. "No more group hugs, ok?"

I nodded and grinned at them all. "You know what? I think things might just be looking up. I mean, I'm feeling a ton better already."

Nico and Grady high-fived, while Zora made a derisive noise in the back of her throat. "Let's see Penelope try and blow you up with _us_ watching over you."

I laughed again, though the mention of Penelope made the panic butterflies in my stomach start fluttering around anxiously. In an attempt to distract myself from the subject of the crazy girl, I turned to Tawni and asked, "Did the reporter from Tween Weekly get everything leave after I... you know?"

Tawni shrugged. "I guess. I was too busy slapping your face to try and wake you up to notice."

"Oh. Um. Ok, then."

I didn't have time to ponder over the whole slapping-my-face thing, because at that moment Marshall barged into the Prop House, looking even more harassed than usual. "Oh, good, Sonny, you're awake," he said distractedly. "Have you kids watched the Tween Weekly yet?"

We shook our heads. "Is anything wrong, Marshall?" I asked, tilting my head.

"Are they talking about me on TV?" Tawni chirped eagerly.

A pang of terror struck me. "Is there any more news about Penelope?" I questioned anxiously.

Marshall shook his head. "No, nothing like that. Look." He picked up a random remote off of the table and clicked a button. Somehow this caused a robotic arm on a nearby shelf to throw a large rubber ball at him, knocking Marshall down the ground.

I hopped up and bent down to help Marshall up. "Marshall, are you ok?"

"What was that?" Marshall spluttered, rubbing his forehead.

Zora grinned broadly. "Oh, that was mine. Sorry 'bout that, Marshall," she said, sounding more entertained than apologetic.

Marshall grumbled something under his breath, then picked up another remote control and pressed the 'on' button. The TV immediately switched on to Tween Weekly TV, where my least favorite reporter, Ryan Loughlin, was speaking in his usual snotty, I-know-something-you-don't-know voice. I frowned, sure that this wasn't going to be good.

"And now we return to the latest with Hollywood's nice girl, Sonny Munroe," Ryan was saying. "Just this morning, nice girl received a suspicious letter - "

Oh, no.

"-from an unnamed source, suspected to be former Mackenzie Falls star, Marta Balatico -"

Oh, no no no no.

A video appeared next to Ryan's head, showing a close-up of me opening the death threat letter. I watched, horrified, as the me on the TV paled, said something that could barely be heard, then suddenly dropped heavily onto the floor. On the video Tawni's voice gasped and yelled, "Oh my God, Sonny!"

I glanced at Tawni, only to find her looking back at me with her eyebrows raised. I quickly forced myself to return my attention to the television, even though that was the absolute last thing I wanted to do.

The video image of my passed out self had disappeared, and now Ryan was holding up a sheet of paper. The death threat. So my hunch had been right, the reporter had taken it. Figures. Ryan read the letter aloud and then made a joke about how I must've really ticked Marta off to receive a death threat, which was so not funny.

Then Ryan finally said, "Well, it seems like Sonny Munroe's Hollywood life isn't so _sunny _now." Then the Tween Weekly logo appeared, and it went to commercial.

...I honestly don't understand why he always has to make some kind of crack at my name. It's getting really old.

Marshall switched off the TV, then stood there wringing his hands. "This is not good."

Zora was glaring at the blank television screen. "Those knuckleheads! Why'd they take the letter? We could've handed it over to the police to check for fingerprints!"

"Like that would've made much difference, Z," Nico scoffed. "It's pretty obvious who it came from."

I finally regained my ability to speak. "Marshall, what's wrong? It's not really that big a deal." I mean, it actually was a big deal, for _me_. I'd been hoping to keep the whole fainting thing hushed up, not advertised all over the celebrity gossip channel. I really didn't want my fans seeing me like that. And then this new occurrence was probably going to earn me more late night visits from obnoxious reporters, another thing I didn't need.

But I had no clue why it was a bad thing for Marshall, of all people.

"Bad press. Lower ratings," Marshall muttered, nervously scratching his head. Then he faced me. "Look, kiddo, I know none of that was your fault, but this is a bit of a blow to the studio. We're going to have to do some major damage control, otherwise..." He trailed off and grimaced.

"Otherwise what?" I asked tentatively.

"No, don't worry about it," he said quickly, shaking his head. "I'm going to call the press and tell them you just passed out from exhaustion from... from..." He snapped his fingers.

"Partying," Tawni offered with a flip of her hair.

"Running from a crazed psychopath with glowing red eyes!" was Zora's eager offer.

Marshall frowned at Zora. "We'll go with Tawni's idea. All right, gotta call the press. No, wait, I should probably call my mother first..." With that parting note, he rushed out of the room.

I stared after him, not entirely sure how I was supposed to react to all this. "What happens if Marshall can't pass along a cover story?" I asked, turning to my friends, who just shrugged in response. I rested my chin in my hands as Grady and Nico abruptly changed the subject and wondered what Marshall had been going to say. _Otherwise what?_

At first I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. But then a deep male voice from the hallway said, "Hey, Sonny."

My friends quit talking about time machines and stiffened, staring at something over my shoulder. Or someone. To be honest with you, I thought it was Chad at first. I whirled around, all set to yell at him to go away, but the words died on my mouth.

Because it was Patrick. My cheating boyfriend.

Yay.

"Hi," I said weakly, taking in my boyfriend's appearance. He looked as cute as usual, with his wavy black hair and his bright hazel eyes, and that boyish smile that was what made me notice him in the first place. He was wearing a gray T-shirt (which totally reflected my mood) and old, tattered blue jeans. I couldn't help but think what a sharp contrast that was to the suits that my ex-boyfriend usually wore, but then I pushed the thought out of my mind. No need to think about Chad and get even more upset. The sight of Patrick was already making me feel slightly queasy.

Tawni, Nico, Grady, and Zora automatically stood up and formed a protective barrier in front of me, glaring at Patrick as though he were the one who'd sent me the death threat. Patrick took a step back, looking startled, and against my better judgement I felt sorry for him. "Guys, it's ok."

"You sure?" Nico asked, frowning at Patrick.

"I can destroy him right now, if you'd like," Zora said, looking extremely hopeful.

I shook my head. "Go. I can handle this on my own." I gave them each a reassuring smile. I hated lying to my friends, but I didn't want them there when I dealt with Patrick. If I even worked up the nerve to deal with him.

"Fine..." they each mumbled.

"And don't listen in," I added reprovingly.

Grady's face fell. "Darn it."

Tawni placed her hands on her hips and whisper yelled at me, "You better break up with him!"

"I will," I replied evenly. And I meant it, too. Sorta.

Tawni huffed, then whirled around and stalked out of the Prop House, glowering at Patrick as she left. The rest followed behind her, with Grady and Nico sticking out their tongues at Patrick and Zora waving her fist in the air threateningly.

And then they were gone, and it was just me and Patrick. Great.

"Your cast don't seem to like me too much," Patrick said, frowning.

I shook my head. "They're just worried about me." I had a sudden random urge to go hide underneath a table. But I needed to get this over with. Right now. A girl has to do what she has to do. So I took a deep breath, stood up, and looked Patrick in the eye. "I need to talk to you," I said seriously.

I was hoping my solemn, unfriendly tone would strike a nerve or something, or at least make him suspect that I knew his little secret. But my hopes were dashed when he just gave me a concerned look and said, "Yeah, I heard about what happened. Are you all right? Did someone really threaten you?"

He started to walk towards me, and I took an involuntary step back. That had to be the stupidest thing I could've ever done, because that caused me to fall backwards onto the sofa, and I knocked my head against the edge of the table. Ouch.

"Woah, Sonny, are you ok?" Patrick yelped, rushing over to help me up. I rubbed my head and winced. "Er, yeah, sure."

"So did someone really threaten you?" he asked again.

Ignoring his question, I closed my eyes and said, "Patrick, I really need to talk to you about something."

"Oh, ok." He sat down on the couch, pulling me beside him, and then put an arm around my shoulder. "What do you need to tell me?"

Well, for starters, I needed to tell him that I knew he was cheating on me with someone else, and that I knew he was messing with my feelings, and that I was breaking up with him whether he liked it or not. And then maybe I'd slap him.

That's what I intended to do and say, anyway. But when I started to speak, I made the mistake of looking directly at him, and suddenly I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I can't explain it. It wasn't because I had deep feelings for him or anything, not the way it had been with Chad, but... it was kind of like I just wanted to cling to one normal part of my life, at least for a little while. With the way things were going, I deserved that much, at least.

Of course, I knew I'd have to end it eventually. But I could always wait a bit, right?

Even though my gut told me I was a total idiot for not breaking up with him while I had the chance, the words tumbled out of my mouth anyway. "I just needed to tell you that... I think we should go to Aquaworld tomorrow." I mentally slapped myself. Dear God. Why did I say that?

"Tomorrow?" he repeated, something like uncertainty flashing in his eyes.

I nodded. "Yeah."

"Oh. Well, er, I've actually got plans tomorrow," he said hesitantly. I resisted the urge to narrow my eyes, because I had a pretty good feeling what his plans were. _Gonna go make out with your other girlfriend some more, huh? _But instead of saying that, I just smiled and nodded. "Oh, ok. That's fine. We can always go some other time."

He looked relieved. "Great. Anyway, I just dropped by to check and see how you were doing. You sure you're ok?"

I nodded again. "Yep. I'm just dandy."

He grinned and gave me a quick kiss, which just made me think about how Chad's kisses were a lot sweeter than this, and how when he kissed me I sort of got the shivers and right now I felt absolutely nothing. Then I mentally slapped myself for the second time. Sheesh, I was such a pathetic, sad excuse for a human being.

"I'll see you later then?" he said, winking at me. I smiled. "Sure."

And with that he was gone. I stared after him and wondered how such a nice guy could be such a big fat cheater.

Which made me think of Chad, for some reason. He was a big fat jerk, but I knew he would never dream of cheating on me.

...Life sucks.

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><p><strong>Stupid cheater. :I<strong>

**Mostly just a filler chapter, I didn't want anything too dramatic happening in this one. I felt like that might've been overdoing it. xD **

**I'm hoping to update My Secret Little Sunshine soon, so keep watch for it, anyone who reads it. c:**

**Well, hope you liked this! Thank you for reading, and please review and tell me what you think so far! :D**

**~Ginger**


	5. Hiding Behind A Character

**Yes, I finally finished this! Oh, Thanksgiving break, how I love you. :'D**

**Before you start reading, I just want to ask this... how many of you thought Mel was a pretty cool character? I did. Even though I really miss not being able to see the Channy drama that would've been on Season 3 if they'd continued the show, I also really regret that we can't see more of Mel. I liked how matter-of-fact she seemed on that last episode, and it would've been nice to get to know more of her character and personality. Too bad. **

**Hopefully the personality I gave her here is close enough to what she would've had on the show, though. c:**

**Ok, I'm gonna quit blabbering now. Enjoy!**

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><p>"Ok, lemme see if I'm understanding you. This psycotic chick tried to blow you up a few months ago?"<p>

"Yeah."

"And she got put in jail?"

"Mm hmm."

"And now she's somehow broken out, is crazier than ever, and still wants you to die?"

"Pretty much."

Mel whistled and leaned up against the counter, totally oblivious to the glares of the impatient customers who were waiting to order. "Holy crap, Sonny! So that's why you were freaking out that day at your apartment! Sheesh, why didn't you tell me this earlier?"

I sighed and stirred my cappuchino slowly with a plastic spoon. I'd come to The Patio, the coffee house just around the corner from my apartment, to visit Mel, who was a waitress there. I guess I was kind of hoping to ease off the tension from the past few days and just hang out like a regular person. But then Mel had sort of demanded to know what was up with me, and I figured I owed it to her to explain everything about Penelope.

And Mel had also threatened to pour coffee on my head if I didn't tell her. So actually I had no choice.

"I was hoping if I didn't bring it up too much, the whole thing would just blow over," I said truthfully, even though I was aware of how stupid that sounded.

She snorted. "Really? And how's that working out for ya?"

"Not too well," I admitted, glumly taking a sip from my cappuchino.

Mel seemed to notice my angst and whatnot, because her expression softened, and she patted my hand reassuringly. "It'll be ok, Sonny. I seriously doubt your friends are going to give this Penelope girl the chance to harm you. And anyway, the police will probably capture her soon. She can't hide forever, someone's bound to see her. Especially with that freaking poofy hair that she's got."

I giggled a bit at that, and Mel grinned. Then she frowned and turned to shoot the grumbling customers an exasperated look. "Good grief, would you people calm down? I am _trying _to comfort my friend here!" When the noise just increased in volume, she sighed and motioned for me to wait there, then moved over to the other side of the counter to take orders.

I set down my cup, rested my chin in my hands, and watched Mel scribble furiously on a yellow notepad. As much as I loved being on So Random, in that moment I really, truly envied Mel. She had a totally normal life and didn't have to worry about the possibility that someone might try to murder her. If only...

But no. I quickly forced that thought away. It didn't do much good to dwell over it. And anyway, I was one hundred percent sure that if I had to redo the past two years of my life, I would've done everything the exact same way. I couldn't start regretting my choices now.

I jerked backwards in surprise as Mel suddenly popped up in front of me and yelled, "Boo!" I flailed around for a second in a desperate attempt to not fall over, then repositioned myself on the stool and tried to glare at Mel as she cracked up. "Really, Mel?"

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help it," she chortled. "Loosen up. Penelope's not gonna randomly come out of nowhere swinging an axe or anything." She paused and then added dramatically, "Or is she?"

"You're making fun of me, aren't you?" I asked, attempting and failing to look angry.

"I wouldn't dream of doing such a thing!" she protesting, smiling.

We bantered and chatted for a long while, and I all but forgot about my troubles with the crazy killer girl. Then Mel suddenly turned a serious gaze on me and asked, "So have you gotten any more death threats from Ms. Psycho?"

I hesitated for a few seconds, then finally nodded. "Yeah. Yesterday." I'd found it in my stack of fanmail. At first I'd thought it was a normal fan letter. Then I saw the red writing on the front, addressed to Allison Munroe, and I realized what it actually was. I didn't even open it. As soon as I'd figured out who it was from, I'd shoved it down Tawni's paper shredder. I mean, there really was no point in reading it, especially since I already had a pretty good idea of what it was going to say.

"And?"

"And what?" I asked in confusion, not sure what else there was to say.

"Well, for starters, was there a return address or a postage stamp?" she asked, while at the same time handing a lady a latte.

I tilted my head. I'd actually never thought about that. "No, I don't think so."

She nodded. "I thought so. You know what this means, right?"

"Uhm... no."

"It means that Penelope didn't send you those letters from outside the studio," Mel said very matter-of-factly.

"What? That makes no sense." I frowned. "What are you getting at?"

Mel didn't reply right away, but when she did she spoke slowly, like she was trying to get me to understand. "Don't you see? She couldn't have sent them from outside, because there was no stamp or address. The only way she could've gotten it on the mail boy's cart is if she secretly put it on there herself."

I was all set to argue that I still didn't get it, when her words suddenly sunk in. I froze and gaped at her. My mouth suddenly felt very dry, and I wished I hadn't already finished my cappuchino. "You think Penelope got inside the studio?"

Mel shrugged. "It seems likely."

It wasn't possible. I couldn't believe it. No, I _wouldn't_ believe it. I shook my head firmly. "No way. If she'd been in the studio putting those notes in Josh's cart, then she had a ton of chances to try to kill me. And she didn't. And anyway, someone would've seen her."

Mel perched on the edge of the counter and frowned thoughtfully. "Think about it. The girl's sick in the head. She's probably sending you those notes to taunt you, or to scare you, maybe both, before she actually does anything. And didn't you just tell me that she's, like, a master of disguise? She could've been right in front of you and you didn't even know it."

I shook my head again, even though the rational part of me knew that what she was saying was true. "No."

She shrugged again. "Fine, don't accept it. But I personally think it'd be better to be aware that this chick could be anywhere and anyone. She could even be me."

I felt my face pale, and Mel added quickly, "But don't worry, she's not me, I promise you."

"Oh my gosh, you _are_ right," I murmured. Then I groaned and buried my head in my hands. "I'm going to be paranoid by the time this is over."

Mel was silent, but then she finally said gently, "Look, Sonny, don't worry about it too much, ok. Just let things fall into place on their own. Everything'll work out."

I looked up at her, feeling almost desperate to be reassured. "Are you sure?"

"Positive," she said confidently. But then her expression became solemn. "But Sonny, don't forget what I said. I think right now, besides your castmates, you can't trust anyone at the studio." She tapped her pen against the countertop. "Better to be safe than sorry. Because you never know."

I stared down at my slightly shaking hands. "Yeah," I echoed. "You never know."

_~.M.y.D.i.L.e.M.m.A.~_

The next day at the studio, the cast of So Random had succumbed into panic. Not because of Penelope or antyhing. No, she was the least of our problems at that moment. We were busy frantically trying to think up a sketch for the last episode of the season, which was on Friday. And today just happened to be Friday. We had less than 24 hours to think of something epic for the last show, and we were still coming up with nothing.

To put it simply, we were screwed.

"Ok, um, how about this?" I asked desperately, waving a sheet of paper around in the air. "How about we do something that involves, er... something really random! What's the randomest thing you guys can think of?"

"Llamas!"

"Pinnochio!"

"Skorts. Blegh."

"Who put you on the planet? Ugh!"

I frowned at Zora, who had offered the last comment. "Ok... anyway, we could do something with a llama wearing a skort that grows a long nose when he lies and says dumb quotes from Spongebob. Right? We could, couldn't we?" I looked around at them for their approval and was disappointed.

Tawni groaned. "That's lame."

"We're dead," Grady said glumly.

"Yeah, if we can't think up something in time for the show..." Nico trailed off. "Well, I don't know what'll happen, but I'm sure it won't be good."

Zora, meanwhile, looked like she was deep in thought. "Wait, guys, don't panic yet. I think I have an idea. But you might not like it, Sonny," she added with a glance at me.

"Whatever, just tell me what you've got."

"Ok. How about we do a parody of the whole Penelope thing?" Zora suggested. "Nico, you could play Penelope, and I'm sure we can find some way to twist things around so that it comes off as hilarious. So how about it?"

There was a short pause. Then...

"Hey, that's actually pretty good!" Nico said, grinning. Grady nodded, looking excited. "Better than anything else we've come up with."

"I still think we should've gone with my Tawnitown sketch idea, but this works, too," Tawni said indifferently.

I, on the other hand, wasn't too eager to hop on board with the idea. "I don't think that's a good idea, guys," I said nervously.

"Why not?" Zora shrugged. "Making light of the whole ordeal would be the perfect way to end the season. Then everyone would know you're not afraid of Penelope and her stupid death threats."

"Yeah, except I actually _am _afraid," I pointed out. "And don't you think Penelope would get really ticked off if she saw us making fun of her?"

"Where would she get a TV to see the show?" Nico said, laughing.

"Yeah, TVs are probably pretty hard to come by when you've just escaped from jail," Grady added. Nico grinned. "Nice one, G!" The two high-fived.

I just stared at them. They were all obviously warming up to the idea. I wanted to tell them about the thing Mel had discussed with me, that Penelope could actually be here, in the studio, and therefore might still see the live show. But for some reason I couldn't bring myself to say anything about it. Besides, we did need a sketch, and so far this was the only one that seemed fairly ok.

"All right, fine," I said grudgingly. Nico and Grady high-fived again, Zora did a victory yell, and Tawni just inspected her manicure. "But let's not take it too far, ok?" I added pleadingly.

"Of course not," they said together.

"We're not stupid, Sonny," Tawni scoffed. "We know what's at stake here." Then she frowned at me. "By the way, I'm very annoyed with you."

I blinked, surprised. "Why?"

"Because you didn't break up with your cheating boyfriend!" she fumed. "I told you to dump his sorry butt. Didn't I tell you that? I told her that, didn't I?" She looked to the others for support, and they all nodded and looked like they were about to start a group rumble. Tawni, fortunately, cut them off. "You know, Sonny, just because you have a boyfriend doesn't automatically make things better."

"I know," I said more sharply than I'd intended to. I took a deep breath and said in a calmer tone, "I know. But I'll break up with him when the time is right. Ok?"

She rolled her eyes. "You really should listen to me more. I'm more advanced in this type of thing than you are."

I smiled at that, then turned to the others. "Ok, enough about my love life troubles. Let's start brainstorming!"

And we would have started brainstorming, too, except we were interrupted when someone behind me cleared their throat. I whirled around and found myself face to face with Chloe, who was standing there glaring at me with her arms crossed. Well, heck. What was _she_ doing here?

"Hey, didn't you read the invisible sign?" Grady said, frowning. "No drama snobs allowed!"

"Yeah, go back to your chocolate fountain and your fancy schmancy dressing rooms," Nico agreed, glaring at Chloe, who just rolled her eyes at them. "Oh, be quiet, Randoms." Then she looked at me. "Sonny," she greeted.

"Hey, Chloe. How's it going?" I said coolly.

"Swell," she said in the same polite, reserved tone of voice. I noticed that her gaze darted around the room for a bit before settling back on me. "So where is he?"

"He who?" I asked blankly.

"You know he who, _him _who, that's who!" she snapped.

"Ok, you just lost me."

She sighed, looking like she was starting to lose her patience or something. "Chad, duh. We're having a party to celebrate the end of season six of Mack Falls, and he's supposed to be there to give the traditional toast. But he's not." She stared at me expectantly, like I was supposed to say something. The thing is, I had no clue what this had to do with me. So I just shrugged. "That's great, I guess. Why are you here again?"

"This is the only other place I can think of where Chad might be," Chloe huffed.

I flinched slightly at that, mainly because two months ago, when we were still dating, that would've been true. He used to come here all the time. Ever since we broke up, though, his visits had occurred less frequently, until finally he rarely came by at all. Didn't Chloe know that? "Well, he's not here," I said harshly. "Maybe he's in his dressing room admiring his reflection."

Chloe blinked, looking surprised. I felt pretty surprised myself. I hadn't talked about Chad that way in ages. It felt kind of nice, actually.

"We checked all over Stage 2. We can't find him," Chloe told me.

I frowned. Now I was getting a tiny bit worried. "Then where is he?"

"I was hoping you could tell me." Chloe met my gaze evenly, and I saw in her expression some sort of regretfulness. I didn't have much time to think about it, though, because just then yet another Mackenzie Falls actor came running into the room. Devon.

"What, are you guys gonna move in here now?" Zora asked sarcastically.

Devon ignored her and spoke directly to Chloe. "Trevor found out that he's with Mr. Condor."

Chloe frowned. "Mr. Condor? Why?"

Devon shrugged. "Don't ask me. Maybe they're discussing something about season seven."

I couldn't help but interject with a question of my own. "You don't think Mr. Condor's going to fire Chad, do you?"

Devon glared at me. "I doubt it. Why do you care, anyway?"

I glared right back at him, refusing to back down from his intimidating stare. "Just because Chad and I aren't dating anymore doesn't mean I don't care about what happens to him."

Devon snorted. "Whatever. Come on," he said to Chloe. "Let's go back to the party. No point in wasting our time with these losers."

Zora shook her fist at Devon. "Who're you calling a loser, punk?"

"Why is the munchkin talking to me?" Devon asked no one in particular, shooting Zora a snooty look. Nico and Grady had to hold Zora back to keep her from attacking Devon with her bare hands.

Chloe elbowed Devon and muttered, "Stop messing with them." Her voice was so soft that I almost didn't hear her. Devon looked annoyed, but he didn't reply, just turned and stalked out of the Prop House. I looked at Chloe curiously, wondering why she'd stopped Devon from taunting Zora.

Not meeting my eyes, Chloe said, "Well, thanks. See you later, Sonny." She started to walk off.

"Bye, Chloe," I called after her.

Chloe paused. "Chastity."

"Huh?"

She glanced over her shoulder at me. For that one brief moment, all signs of the conceited actress I'd started to grow accustomed to again were gone. "My real name is Chastity. You might as well know."

I blinked. "Oh." Well, then. Don't get me wrong, I'd always known somewhere in the back of my mind that the Mack Falls people had real names. But hey, if you go around calling people by their character's names every day, you start to assume that that's who they are, period.

Chloe - no, Chastity actually smiled. "Shocking, huh? It helps us to stay in character. Sometimes that makes us forget who we really are, though." She looked sad for a second, then she shook her head. "Well, bye." Without another word, she turned and left.

Once she was gone, I plopped back down on the couch beside Tawni and the others and wondered aloud, "What do you think that was about?"

"Who cares?" Zora growled, still looking incredibly ticked off. "Let's just get back to brainstorming, people."

We were all in hearty agreement with Zora's proposal and returned back to our planning for the show (only six hours left! AHH!). I cleared my mind of Chad and Chastity and Penelope and Patrick and all my other troubles so I could concentrate on the topic at hand. And you know, we actually did make something really cool from Zora's idea. In fact, it was pretty funny! It poked fun at the whole Penelope-wanting-to-kill-me situation, and I actually felt a ton better after cracking up over some of the silly lines that Nico and Grady made up.

For the first time in a week, I felt completely happy again.

Too bad all good things come to an end.

"Hey, kids," Marshall greeted as he walked into the room, looking more harassed than usual.

"Hi, Marshall!" we chimed together.

He rubbed the top of his head and motioned to me. "Sonny, come with me."

"Huh? Why?" I asked, looking up from the script and peering at him.

"Mr. Condor wants to talk with you."

"What?" I exchanged blank looks with my castmates before looking back at Marshall. "How come he wants to talk to me?" My eyes widened. "This isn't about that pineapple hat incident last month, is it? I said I was sorry!"

Marshall gave me a strange look. "...No." He cleared his throat. "Under the peculiar... circumstances, Mr. Condor feels that he needs to handle matters of the studio on his own for the moment." Apparently he saw that I still didn't understand, because he added quickly, "Come on, kiddo, we can't keep Mr. Condor waiting."

I glanced back down at my script. "But Marshall, we're working on a sketch for tonight's show," I protested.

"Yeah, and we need Sonny here to plan everything," Nico said.

"We're making fun of Penelope," Zora added smugly, patting the script in front of her. "It'll be great!"

Marshall visibly winced. "Of course. Sonny'll be back soon, though, so just plan ahead without her for the moment." Then to me he said, "C'mon, kiddo, let's go."

I stood up and looked back at my friends, who shrugged. Then I nodded. "Ok." I walked out into the hallway with Marshall, not sure why I was suddenly having a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach.

We walked to Mr. Condor's office in silence. When we finally arrived at his door, Marshall stopped and turned to look at me. "I'll be with you the whole time, ok, kiddo?"

I nodded, my nervousness increasing as I took in the concern in Marshall's expression. Something didn't feel right about this...

Marshall raised his hand and rapped his knuckles on the door. From inside the room, Mr. Condor's voice said, "Come in!" Without looking at me, Marshall opened the door and let me walk in first.

I almost jumped out of my skin when I saw Chad sitting in the chair in front of the big boss's desk. I don't know why. I mean, Chloe - sorry, Chastity and Devon (I wonder what his real name is?) had already said that he was in here. Still, it came as a big surprise, for some reason.

At the moment, Chad was arguing with Mr. Condor fiercely, looking frustrated. "Mr. Condor, I don't understand. You can't do this - "

"You're out of line, Mr. Cooper," Mr. Condor said, frowning at Chad. "As head of the studio, I can do what I want. You have no say in this."

"But - " Then Chad saw me. The chair made a loud noise as Chad quickly got to his feet and gave me a wide eyed stare. "Sonny! What're are you...?" His expression became horrified, and he whirled back on Mr. Condor, yelling, "You can't do this! You can't just ruin people's lives like this, it's not - !"

"Out, Mr. Cooper," Mr. Condor said, tight-lipped. "I'll deal with your impertinence later."

Chad gaped at Mr. Condor, then turned his helpless gaze on me. Our eyes met for a second, and looked like he wanted to say something. But then he tore his gaze angrily away from mine and strode out of the room. I flinched as the door slammed behind him. I'd never seen Chad like that before.

That definitely did not make me feel any better about this.

"Ah, Sonny," Mr. Condor said, appearing unfazed by the whole Chad-yelling-at-him thing. "Please sit down."

I sat down hesitantly and mentally yelled at the butterflies in my stomach to go away. Then I remembered that Marshall was standing right behind me and took a small bit of comfort in that. Whatever was going to happen here, Marshall was going to be there for me, I was sure of it.

"Now Sonny, I believe you've seen the news about the young lady who wishes to have you killed, yes?"

I gulped. What a wonderful way to start off this conversation. "Uhm, yes, Mr. Condor, sir."

Mr. Condor nodded and paused to examine something in his hand. "Yes, well, I'm sure you're also aware of the negative effect this is having on the studio. Ratings are dropping lower and lower, and you know how unnaceptable this is."

I nodded slowly. What did this have to do with me?

"And when ratings drop, someone has to go," Mr. Condor said after a few brief moments. His words sounded awfully final.

I heard Marshall fidget behind me and felt my eyes widening as I started to understand exactly where this was going. I tried to say something, but my voice seemed to have temporarily quit on me.

Mr. Condor must've noticed how stunned I was, because his expression actually became a bit gentler. This just shocked me even more, because Mr. Condor and gentleness don't usually go together. "You're a good kid, Sonny. Dependable, likeable, not like some of the other actors in this studio. But what has to be done has to be done."

My mouth had gone very dry. "Mr. Condor, I - "

"As soon as this last show is over, you're fired."

And with those little words, my whole world crashed around me.

* * *

><p><strong>Review, please! c:<strong>


	6. Bad Vibes, Bad Texts

**I didn't realize how much I missed writing for this story until I finished typing out the first sentence. xD So... I may have kinda made this chapter a lot longer than I originally intended. But I'm pretty pleased with it all the same. There's just so much DRAMMAAA.**

**Enjoy! ;)**

* * *

><p>I walked in a daze back to Stage 3. I was vaguely aware of Marshall guiding me down the hallway, speaking to me reassuringly the whole way, but... I just wasn't... there. Well, I mean, I was there, of course, but my mind was still back in Mr. Condor's office. Still reliving that nightmare, still unable to accept it.<p>

His words kept circling around in my head, over and over again. "You're fired, you're fired." Like some kind of sick, wacked up record that wouldn't quit skipping tracks. It was enough to make me want to go bang my head against the wall just to get it to shut up.

As for what happened after Mr. Condor dropped that bomb on me, my reaction was to stare blankly at him for I don't know how long. Even though I'd felt it coming, there are still absolutely no words to describe what I felt at that moment.

I'd wanted to protest or defend myself, or plead for him to give me my job back, or... or... I don't know. Something. Anything. But I knew the second I opened my mouth, the tears would most likely come, and I, unfortunately, wouldn't be able to stop them. So I just continued to stare at him until he dismissed us, which was when Marshall gently but firmly led me out of the room.

So. I was fired.

Fired. From So Random.

Indefinitely.

Someone up above must've been taking some serious pleasure in my misery.

Eventually, the fog swirling around in my brain started to lift, and I looked around blearily, feeling oddly like I'd just woken up from a sort of restless sleep. I recognized my surroundings now. We were standing in the hallway right outside the Prop House. I could hear my friends inside, still chattering about our last show of the season. _My last show in general, _I thought dully.

Marshall slowly turned around to face me, looking pained, and I realized with a pang that he didn't like this situation any more than I did. "Look, kiddo, don't bring this up with the others until after the show. Ok? It'd be better if we could go through the last show without any distractions."

I nodded, keeping my face carefully devoid of emotion, even though I sort of just wanted to scream.

"After the sketch is done we'll discuss more," Marshall babbled on. "And you can pick any day you want to come clean out your things from your dressing room. Oh, I just remembered I forgot to call Ma... ah, well, she can wait. Probably. And Sonny, you can still - "

I couldn't take it any more. "Marshall, can we please not talk about this? It's not... it's not exactly giving me inspiration for my - for the last show."

Marshall's expression became sympathetic. "Just go out there and have a great time tonight, kiddo," he said kindly, before pulling out his cell phone and walking past me, back down the way we'd just come from.

Easy for him to say.

Even so, I really did appreciate that. Marshall had his quirks, but, more importantly, he had a good heart, too.

Once Marshall had gone, I rested my head against the wall and squeezed my eyes shut. "It's ok. Everything is perfectly fine. _You're_ fine," I chanted to myself. Unfortunately, saying that only gave me a headache and the urge to throw up, so I gave up on that method of trying to make myself feel better.

I cleared my throat as quietly as I could, then straightened and lifted my chin. There was absolutely no way I was going to let my friends see how awful I was feeling. They didn't need to worry about me any more than they had to. I'd just play it cool, act casual...

But how could I possibly act casual? What if my friends asked me why Mr. Condor wanted me to come to his office? What the heck could I possibly tell them? "Oh, Mr. Condor just wanted my opinion on his new suit. He totally didn't just fire me or anything." Um, I'm pretty sure _that_ explanation wasn't going to come off well.

Pushing my hair back, I attempted to rearrange my expression into something that looked calm and collected. As soon as I was sure I looked like a confident actress about to have a great time on her last show (as opposed to the depressed, stressed out actress that I actually was), I took a deep breath and strolled into the Prop House, bracing myself for the bombardment of questions I was sure was waiting for me.

Much to my surprise, though, the questions and group rumbling I was expecting didn't come. "There you are!" Tawni yelled, glaring at me as I walked in. I froze. "Uh. Hi, guys," I said in a squeaky voice, then cleared my throat. "What's up?"

"We've been working on the sketch, that's what's up," Nico said dryly.

"Sonny!" Tawni fumed, stalking over to me and looking absolutely furious. "Do you realize how long you've been gone? We need to rehearse the sketch right now!"

So obviously they were so stressed about the sketch that they didn't really care about what I'd been up to in Mr. Condor's office. I could have fainted from pure relief. "Sorry," I said, forcing myself to smile. "I guess I, um, lost track of the - "

"Oh, we don't have time for excuses," Tawni groaned. She seized me by the wrist (ignoring my yelp of pain as her nails dug into my skin, I might add) and dragged me over to the others. "Look, I don't care what you were doing, but we've already memorized our scripts, and now it's your turn."

"Memorized? Already?" I asked, blinking.

Zora handed Tawni a script, which she promptly shoved in my face. "Chop chop!"

I opened up my script and smiled wryly. Well, at least this would distract me from all my many problems.

As soon as I felt I'd gotten my lines down (luckily, I had a small role. I played a bumbling cop, while Tawni played the part of, well, me. We figured it'd be funnier if I didn't act as myself), everyone rushed me off to the set to go rehearse. They didn't even give me the time to get a drink of water, much less get the chance to ask me what had happened while I was gone. So far, things were going good.

Well, not exactly _good_, but... good enough.

Two hours later, after a speedy rehearsal, Tawni and I were sitting in our little director's chairs and going over our scripts one more time, while some makeup artists touched up our faces. I held as still as possible when Aria, the head makeup artist, applied powder to my face. Beside me, Tawni adjusted her wig and peered at her reflection in the mirror. "Ugh, I look much less pretty with your hair color," she remarked to me, crinkling up her nose in disgust.

I thanked Aria as she finished up, then sighed. "Well, Tawn, at least you don't have to be stuck looking like that forever." I meant for my words to be teasing, but they came out sounding bitter.

Tawni glanced at me, and the disdainful expression on her face softened. "Is the whole Penelope thing still bugging you?"

I shifted uncomfortably in my chair and chose to not reply.

Tawni seemed to be having some sort of internal struggle, but finally she said, "Look, I get that you're really upset and all, and I totally sympathize, but look around you. Penelope's a total wacko, but trust me, there's nothing she could possibly do to you now. Not with all these people back here." She gestured to the crew workers, cast members, and extras milling around backstage. "You are perfectly safe," she went on, nodding firmly. "So suck it up and deal with it, because you're starting to be even _more_ annoying when you're miserable than you are when you're happy."

I couldn't help but smile at her. Good old Tawni, always there for me. In her own, self-centered way. I was hit by a sudden desire to tell her what was _really_ wrong. I know Marshall had told me not to blab it out to anyone until after the show, but keeping secrets from my friends always made me feel incredibly guilty.

Making up my mind, I said, "Thanks for the pep talk, Tawn, but it's actually not - "

"Hello, Randoms." The familiar voice interrupted me before I could get any farther. I stiffened and stared at Tawni with wide eyes, not daring to turn around and look at the person who'd just spoken behind me. Tawni, meanwhile, peered over my shoulder and frowned, her face taking on a hostile look. "What are _you _doing here? Don't you have a party to get to?"

"Party's over. I need to talk to Sonny." Great.

"Yeah, well, she doesn't want to talk to you," Tawni retorted.

I sighed. "No, it's ok, Tawn, I'll talk to him. It's fine, really."

Tawni looked unconvinced. "Hmm. Ok, then. But if he starts to aggravate you, just call and we'll go get security." With one last glare over my shoulder and a mouthed 'I'm watching you', she got to her feet and strutted away.

I counted to three before standing up and revolving slowly around to face the person standing behind my chair. "Hi, Chad," I said in a neutral tone.

Chad's piercing blue gaze flicked back and forth across my face, like he was trying to read my expression. Or... was he trying to memorize what I looked like? A shiver ran up my spine. Did he know that I'd been fired? How could he possibly know that? Unless he was psychic or something, there was no possible way.

And yet... he'd been in Mr. Condor's office before me. And when I'd walked in, right before he started yelling at Mr. Condor, he'd looked at me so strangely...

I quickly shook those thoughts away. Now was not the time to be dwelling on this.

"Sonny," Chad said coolly, his face impassive. "How's it going?"

"How do you _think _it's going?" I shook my head in disbelief. "Chad, if you're just here to rub my bad luck in my face, then just go away. I've got a show to get ready for."

He frowned. "I'm trying to be civil. You know I'd never do that."

"Do I? Do I really?" I scoffed. Chad clenched his jaw, anger flashing in his eyes. "You breaking up with me doesn't mean I'm going to start acting like a jerk to you again. Unless you want me to, that is."

I felt like he'd just punched me in the face, but I pretended that what he'd said hadn't affected me in the slightest. "What do you want?" I sighed.

He turned his gaze away from me to stare at one of the crew members running past with a prop. "I just wanted to make sure you were ok. Is that a crime?"

I laughed. "Me? Seriously? Wow, I'm so honored. I didn't think you even cared anymore."

Chad stared at me. He didn't look angry anymore, just incredulous, and suddenly I felt ashamed of myself. He was only trying to check up on me, and I was responding how? By being sarcastic and difficult.

I was such a horrible person. Maybe I deserved all this bad luck after all. "I'm sorry, Chad," I apologized, biting my lip. "I honestly don't know what's wrong with me anymore."

"It's fine," he said hurriedly. "I understand."

"No, you don't," I said sadly. "And I hope you never do."

Chad's eyes flickered as he took in my sorrowful expression. He lifted his hand and hesitantly moved it towards me, as if to brush aside my bangs or something. And I wanted him to. I really, really wanted him to. But then he seemed to remember that he wasn't my boyfriend anymore, and his hand quickly dropped back to his side. I fought back the feeling of disappointment and did my best to smile at him. "Well, thanks for dropping by, Chad. Um, I guess I'll catch you later..."

"No, wait." The urgency in his voice stopped me just as I was turning away from him. I curiously faced him again. "What?"

He glanced around the room before looking back at me. Dropping his voice to a soft murmur, so that only I could hear, he asked, "What happened in Mr. Condor's office after I left?"

My heart sank. "Chad, I don't want to talk about - "

"I knew it. He fired you, didn't he?" he asked grimly.

"I - I don't see how it matters."

"This is important, Sonny."

I hugged my arms to my body and took a shuddering breath. "Fine. He fired me. Are you happy now?" My voice cracked on the word 'happy'.

For a second Chad looked so deeply upset that I wanted to fling my arms around his neck to make him feel better, but then anger crossed his features. He viciously shoved his hands in his pockets and glared at something past me. "I hate this," he said bitterly.

I tilted my head, confused. "What do you mean?"

He pulled his hands out of his pockets and focused on me again. "I hate this whole Penelope thing. I hate how sad you seem. And I especially hate how I can't do anything to stop this," he said through gritted teeth. He was clenching his fists really hard now, and I could actually see a vein protruding from his right arm. Whoa. He was seriously angry. I hadn't seen him like this since that one time I'd told him his acting in Season 4 of Mackenzie Falls had paled in comparison to Zac Efron's acting in 17 Again.

I searched my mind for something to say in response, something to reassure him, but I came up with a blank. So I simply laid my hand on his shoulder and did my best to meet his gaze, hoping maybe that would calm him down. And it seemed to work, too. His tense body began to relax when I touched him. Phew.

Once I was sure he wasn't about to go on a wild rampage across the set, I reluctantly removed my hand from his shoulder. Swiftly changing the subject, I asked curiously, "By the way, how'd you know that I was, um... dismissed?"

The smile he gave me had no humor in it whatsoever. "I didn't at first. Mr. Condor just told me that he was going to fire someone from So Random, because of some undesirable bad press that was being reflected onto the studio. His words, not mine. Anyway, I thought he meant either Nico or Grady, because they're idiots... hey, don't look at me like that, Sonny, you know I'm right," he added when he saw my glare.

I rolled my eyes. Just because he happened to be right about Nico and Grady being (loveable) doofuses, he didn't have to say it out loud. "Whatever."

"So I thought he was talking about one of them," Chad continued. "But then you walked through the door, and I realized he was actually referring to you."

That explained why Chad had started yelling at Mr. Condor. In a way, I was touched that he'd been so quick to leap into defensive mode. For me.

But...

"Chad," I said slowly, carefully. "Why was Mr. Condor telling _you _about this, anyway?"

Chad hesitated. Even though his expression barely betrayed anything, I knew Chad almost as well as I knew my own self, and I could tell my question made him uncomfortable. "Well..."

"We're on in five!" the director called from somewhere nearby, and a few moments after that the announcer's voice said, "Are you ready to get So Random?" This was followed by cheers from the audience.

"That's my cue," I sighed.

"Of course." He nodded. "Well, break a leg."

I winced. "Lovely choice of words, Chad."

He chuckled in an (adorably) embarassed way. "Oops, sorry." He gave me a small, warm smile. "Good luck, Sunshine."

It took all I had not to melt into a tiny, pathetic little puddle. "Thanks." I wanted to say more to him, to tell him that I appreciated that he'd cared enough to check and see if I was ok, but the words seemed to be stuck in my throat when I looked at him. Tearing my eyes away, I hastily turned around and darted off in the direction of the stage before I could do anything stupid.

_Stop it,_ I berated myself. _You broke up with Chad. Acting like this is just sad. You do NOT like him like that anymore. So get it over it. Ok, self?_

But as I strode out onto the stage, the annoyingly sensible voice in my head betrayed me by whispering, _You _do_ still like him that way, Sonny. But you just can't face up to that fact, because it scares you more than Penelope ever could._

_~.M.y.D.i.L.e.M.m.A.~_

"Sonny Munroe!"

Cheers exploded from the audience as the announcer called out my name for the sign-off. I ran onstage to join the rest of my castmates, who were clustered together, all smiles as they waved to the crowd. I skidded to a stop beside Tawni and purposefully almost fell off the stage, which, as I had hoped for, scored me laughs from the people watching.

I grinned and stepped back to exchange high fives with Nico, Grady, and Zora, gave Tawni a warm smile, then looked out at the audience members. "Well, that's our show, everybody!" I said cheerfully, and more cheers and applause errupted at my words. I couldn't help grinning even wider. Our sketch had been a hit with the audience! Not only that, but performing onstage, listening to everyone laughing at our silly, random antics, and just having a blast with my cast had made me feel a thousand times better. For the whole blissful twenty minutes, I'd forgotten about all my troubles with Penelope and Patrick and Chad, and I'd just let loose. I knew my face was shining with happiness as I gazed out at the many faces in front of me.

Nothing could compare to the thrill of being on So Random. Nothing at all. If it was up to me, I would stay on So Random forever and ever, so I could make people all over the world laugh every week.

_But it isn't up to you. And this is your last show. Ever._

The spark of happiness that had started to warm up inside me felt like it'd just been doused out with ice cold water.

"Thank you for watching this season of So Random!" Tawni called, a mega watt smile on her face.

"We've had so much fun this year," Nico added. "There was a bit of drama..." Here they all glanced at me with raised eyebrows, and I smiled weakly, knowing they were thinking about Channy.

"But it was still a great season!" Grady finished brightly. "Even if we didn't win a Tween Choice Award!"

"Don't get too upset, though," Zora said jokingly. "We'll be back on air before you know it!" More cheers greeted us.

I knew that in a few short seconds the curtains would close, and it would all be over. I had to say something before that happened. "Before we go," I started to say hesitantly, then cleared my throat. "Before we go," I repeated in a louder, stronger voice. "I just want to say that... for the past two years, I have loved every moment I've been on this show. Getting to work with these brilliant people always gave me something to look forward to every morning." My vision was starting to become a bit blurry, and I impatiently wiped away the tears that were starting leak onto my cheeks. "I feel so blessed to have been given this opportunity. Thank you for being such an amazing audience."

I turned to my friends, who were staring at me, confusion and concern in each of their expressions. "And you guys are the best friends I could've ever hoped to have. I love you guys. So, so much." I smiled affectionately at them, then took a deep breath, pushed down the urge to start bawling, and faced the crowd again. "Thanks again. You're the best! Good night, everybody!"

And with that, the theme music began to play, the curtains closed in front of us, and the best time of my life had officially come to an end.

I trudged after my castmates, who were chattering away excitedly about how well the show had gone. Tawni tugged off her wig and said aloud, "Ugh, finally that's over, I was about to die in this thing."

Nico laughed and gestured to his prison outfit. "At least you didn't have to wear this."

Tawni shuddered. "Thank God."

As the others walked on, most likely to go get some fro-yo, Zora paused to wait up for me. "What was that speech about, Sonny?" she asked, frowning at me.

"Hmm? Oh, that." I smiled as cheerfully as possible at her. "Well, I just thought I should tell everyone how much I appreciate them. You know?"

Zora's frown deepened. "You looked sad when you were talking."

I waved my hand in the air dismissively, though inwardly I was shocked that Zora, of all people, had even noticed. "Don't worry about me, Zora. Just go with the others and stuff yourself with some fro-yo. I'll catch up later."

Zora hesitated, but finally nodded. "Hurry up before Grady and Nico eat it all."

I chuckled for her benefit. Looking satisfied, she turned and bounded away. I waited until she was gone before sinking into my chair. I peered at my reflection and was stunned to see how exhausted I looked. "Smile," I ordered myself, and attempted to plaster my trademark, sunny grin on my face. It came out looking strained and fake.

Groaning, I buried my head in my hands. "Well. This stinks," I muttered.

I'm not exactly sure how long I sat there feeling sorry for myself, but after a while I heard footsteps approaching, and then someone was shaking my shoulder. "Hey, Sonny. Are you asleep?" I recognized Chad's voice. So he was still here. Huh.

"Yes," I grumbled.

Chad sighed in an impatient manner, and with a great effort I lifted my head to frown at him. "What do you want now?" I asked tiredly. "I'm really not in the mood to talk right now."

"I get that. But I think I owe you an explanation."

Well, he'd certainly stirred my curiosity now, darn him. I straightened up in my chair and folded my hands in my lap. "I have no clue what you're talking about, but sure, be my guest. Explain away."

Chad licked his lips. "Well, you asked me earlier why Mr. Condor was telling me all that stuff about who he was firing. Right?"

"Um, right."

"See, that's actually because - "

Before he could get any further, a deep voice behind us called, "Hey, Sonny!" I froze, my eyes widening in alarm. What was _he_ doing here? While I was busy being shocked, Chad eyed the newcomer suspiciously. "Who're you?"

"Patrick Myers," said my cheating boyfriend pleasantly. "And you're Chad Dylan Cooper, aren't you? Nice to meet you." He stuck out his hand in greeting, a pleasant smile on his face. Chad didn't take his offered hand. A shadow had crossed his face when he'd heard Patrick's name. "So you're Sonny's new boyfriend."

"Yeah." Patrick awkwardly drew back his hand and turned his hazel eyes on me. "That was an awesome show," he gushed, grinning. "I was seriously cracking up. It was hilarious!" Beside him, Chad snorted derisively, but Patrick didn't seem to hear him. "And you were great as that police officer, Sonny."

"Thanks." I directed my comment at him, but I was really watching Chad out of the corner of my eye. I mean, I hadn't expected him to become chummy with Patrick if they ever met (and trust me, I'd been hoping that them meeting was something that would _never _happen), but I couldn't understand why Chad was looking at him with such intense dislike.

Patrick's next words distracted me from Chad for a bit. "I bet it'll be tough having to wait until next season to get back out there, huh?"

"Probably. Not that it'll matter, because Mr. Condor fired me," I informed him. Funnily enough, as soon as I'd finished speaking I thought I heard someone nearby take in a sharp, surprised intake of breath. But when I glanced around, there was no one there besides Chad and Patrick. Weird.

"Fired?" Patrick repeated, looking stunned. "But... why?"

"None of your business," Chad snapped before I could respond.

"Chad!" I gasped, shooting him an indignant look. "I can talk for myself, thank you very much!"

"I seriously doubt that," Chad scoffed. My mouth dropped open. _What the heck? _Where had this come from? What had happened to the Chad that'd been all, "Oh, I hate how sad you seem, Sunshine, blahblahblah"?

"You do _not _want to mess with me right now, Cooper," I said in a steely voice, standing up and glaring at him.

Patrick looked from my glare to Chad's frown and raised his eyesbrows. "Ok, I sense you two have some things to work out," he said slowly. "I have to be going, anyway. See ya later, Sonny." He gave me a quick peck on the cheek. I smiled sweetly at him, well aware that Chad was now staring at us with a murderous expression on his face. _Serves him right_, I thought sourly.

Once Patrick was gone, Chad sighed and relaxed. "Finally," he muttered. "What a jackass."

As much as I agreed with him on that, I was still furious at him. I gave his chest a hard shove and was satisfied to see him stagger backwards slightly. "God, Chad, you're such a jerk!" I hissed. "What is _wrong _with you?"

He rolled his eyes. "Nothing. But I'm starting to think there's something wrong with _you_ for dating that loser."

I wished at that moment it was possible to kill people just by looking at them, because I really wanted Chad to drop dead right then. "That doesn't give you any right to talk to him or me like that!" I snapped.

He looked over at me sharply. "For your information, I was only saying that so he'd go away," he said hotly. "And it worked, because he's gone."

I folded my arms. "And why would you possibly want him to go?"

"I don't trust him," he muttered, shooting a dark look at the spot Patrick had been standing in a few moments ago. "There's something weird about that guy..."

"Oh, really?" I said, anger making me sarcastic. "You don't _trust_ him? So you're saying this has absolutely nothing to do with you being jealous of him? Yeah, I definitely believe _that_."

The look on his face told me I'd hit a nerve there. "I am not jealous."

I raised an eyebrow. "Sure. You hating every single guy I date just happens to be a hobby of yours, right?"

Chad was obviously struggling not to yell at me some more, and I felt a brief flash of triumph. Take that, Cooper! Then my triumph faded somewhat as I realized how we were acting. We were arguing just like we always had before we'd started dating. No, actually, this was even worse than that. At least before we'd always been playful and teasing with our constant bantering. Now it felt like... like the past few years had never happened.

Shame and sadness welled up inside me again, and I was tempted to say "I'm sorry", but I bit back the apology. There was no flipping way I was going to apologize to Chad. Not until he apologized to me first.

"Sonny, I'm not kidding here. Are you seriously telling me that you don't get any bad vibes from him?" he asked, frowning.

I hesitated only a moment. "No."

"Well, I do," he huffed. "And don't you even say it's because I'm jealous. It's got nothing to do with that."

I rolled my eyes. "Even if you aren't jealous, that's a completely messed up impression. Patrick is a really nice guy."

"Oh, yeah?" he shot back. "You've only known the guy for, what, a month? How do you know he's not fooling around with some other girl behind your back? Tell me that, Sonny."

Amazing. He didn't even know, and yet he was right on the nose.

I spent at least six seconds staring at him with my jaw flapping open. Then I regained control of myself and shut my mouth. Folding my arms, I took a deep breath, suddenly feeling completely drained again. I didn't have any more energy to snap at him, so I just said, "Chad, I know you're just trying to help, but don't."

"Yeah, but - "

"Remember what happened last time?" I pointed out softly.

Hurt flashed in Chad's eyes. He knew what I meant. His demand of a recount hadn't ended so well for either of us. "Sonny, I just - "

I never got to hear what he was going to say, though, because suddenly I heard movement behind me, and I whirled around to find my castmates staring at me with wide eyes. I glanced at Chad, who had that deer in the headlights look going on, then back at my friends. "Um... we were just talking." Even though it was true, it sounded really lame, even to me.

Fortunately, my friends didn't seem to care. Unfortunately, they were more concerned about something else. "You were fired?" Tawni asked.

Stunned, I couldn't do anything but stare. "Where did you hear that from?"

"I was checking out something behind the costume rack, and I overheard you," Zora said, looking upset.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Nico demanded.

"Yeah, Sonny, we're supposed to be your friends," Grady told me, betrayal written all over his face. Guilt washed over me. This was exactly the kind of thing I'd been hoping to avoid. "I wanted to tell you guys," I said miserably. "But Marshall told me to wait until after the show, and once the show was over you were all so happy and going to eat fro-yo and... and I couldn't."

"She's telling the truth," Chad informed them, a superior tone in his voice. I resisted the urge to yell "Not helping!" in his ear.

"You stay out of this, Pooper!" Zora snapped.

"Guys, I'm so, so sorry." I bit my lip and looked down at the ground. "I wouldn't blame you if you never spoke to me again," I murmured.

I expected them to yell at me. Or, as much as I hated to think about it, turn their backs on me for good and forget I ever existed. What I certainly did _not _expect was for Tawni to burst into tears (that was really frightening, to tell you the truth), or for my cast to step forward and envelop me in a ginormous hug. Nope, did not see that coming.

"Are you crazy?" Nico exclaimed. "We'd never abandon you."

"We _are_ mad that you didn't tell us," Tawni sniffed.

"But we're a family," Zora finished. "And families always stick together."

I was getting even more emotional now. A small smile popped onto my face. "You guys are gonna make me cry."

I would have started bawling, too, if it hadn't been for the _MOO! _that rang out from my purse. Sniffling, I pulled away from my friends and made my way over to the makeup table where I'd left my purse and opened it. After digging around for a bit, I tugged out my phone and checked the screen. One new text message. Ok, that was nothing out of the normal.

I tapped on the little text message box thing and peered at my text. I read it once. Then twice. Then two more times. Confused, I shook my head. "I don't understand," I muttered.

"What does it say?" Chad spoke up from beside me, making me jump. I'd completely forgotten he was there.

I read the text, which was from an unknown number, out loud. "I've always wanted to drop by your apartment. Maybe I should pay mommy a visit. M." Either I was stupid or my brain just wasn't working properly yet, but the text made absolutely no sense to me.

"That's from Penelope," Zora stated promptly.

I glanced at my friends, from Tawni, who was dabbing at her eyes with a tissue, to Nico and Grady, who were frowning curiously, and finally to Zora, who looked intrigued. "But what does it mean?" I asked. "What does where I live have to do with her mom?"

Chad frowned. "She didn't say it was _her _mom..."

I tilted my head, not sure what he was getting at.

Suddenly, realization smacked me in the face, and my heart dropped into my stomach. "Oh, my God."

"What?" Grady asked.

There was no time to waste. Panicking now, I shoved my phone back into my purse and whirled around so violently that I knocked something off the table. It shattered on the ground, sending glass shards everywhere. I think one might've pricked me, but I barely felt it. "Tawni, you have to drive me to my apartment, right now!" I shouted.

Tawni's eyes widened slightly in alarm. "Why? Sonny, what's happening?"

My breath was coming out in short little gasps now, and I was clutching my purse so hard that my knuckles were turning white. "Penelope knows where I live," I managed to choke out.

Zora shrugged. "So? You're not there now, she can't hurt you."

"Don't you get it? She doesn't want me!" I cried, desperation leaking from my voice. I shoved Chad frantically aside and ran over to Tawni, trying to drag her out of the room. "Tawni, please, we have to go, her life is at stake!"

"Whose?" Tawni asked, bewildered.

I was shaking all over, but that didn't stop me from whirling on her and yelling, "My mom! Penelope's going after my mother!"

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><p><strong>D:<strong>

**Review, please, and I will love you forever. **


	7. Some New Decorations

**Hey, guys! Happy Easter! :'D**

** Sorry this took so long. Curse you, writer's block! :U**

**But thank you all so much for all the reviews, and all the PMs telling me not to feel discouraged and to hurry up and update my stories. You're all so sweet **

**Shout-out to MusicChannySkyscraper! I honestly didn't really expect to read this, much less review. So thank you so very much! :'D I'm definitely gonna start reading the new chapters QTO this week. Whoo!**

**Well, enjoy! c:**

* * *

><p>I'd lost Chad.<p>

I'd lost my job.

I'd as good as lost Patrick. Or, at least, the person I'd thought he was.

It was even starting to feel like I'd lost the ability to smile.

Each time I lost something I cared about, it felt like I was being cut open with a knife, over and over again. I hated that feeling. I hated how everything that made my life worthwhile was slipping away from me.

But not my mom. I was _not _going to let Penelope take away the person I loved more than anyone else in the world. I couldn't lose her, too, I just... couldn't. If I did...

I winced and clutched more tightly at the edge of the soft leather seat. I was in the passenger seat of Tawni's car, hyperventilating and having yet another panic attack, while Tawni herself sat at the steering wheel, pretty much speeding through the streets of Hollywood. Normally I didn't approve of insane driving. At that particular moment, I could've cared less.

"Drive faster!" I yelled for the millionth time.

"I'm already almost over the speed limit!" Tawni yelled right back, gripping the steering wheel tighter.

"Tawni, my mom could be DYING!"

"Be quiet so I can concentrate!" she snapped, then jerked the wheel to the right. The car made a sharp turn, causing me to accidentally bang my head against the window. Ouch.

Rubbing my head, I fidgeted in my seat before suddenly bursting out, "But Tawn, what if we're too late? What if we get there and - "

"SHUT UP!" she screeched.

Don't get me wrong, it's not like I was purposefully _trying _to annoy Tawni. I wanted to shut up. I wanted nothing more than to be able to just sit quietly and be totally and completely calm. But the longer I sat in the car, doing nothing and saying nothing, the more hopeless the situation started to feel. Like my mom's life depended on me, and if I did nothing and just sat there, then I was basically just letting Penelope win.

Which probably makes no sense whatsoever.

It's hard to explain. But when someone you love is in danger, the fear and terror you feel is just too completely overwhelming to describe.

My point is, I was a scared, confused, emotional wreck, and I wanted my mom, and I wanted her to hug me and tell me everything was going to be ok. And until I was absolutely positive that she was safe, there was no way I could just _sit _there and be _quiet_.

So I pulled out my phone and called my mom's cell for the seventh time. It rang a few times, then went straight to the answering machine. Not a surprise, since the same exact thing had already happened six times before. Unfortunately, that didn't stop it from feeling like yet another blow to the stomach. "She's still not answering her phone," I said. My throat started to tighten up, the way it does when you're about to cry. "Tawni, why isn't she answering her phone?" I choked out desperately.

In reply, Tawni shot me a glare and said, "Jeez, calm down! It's going to be fine."

"But what if it's NOT fine?" I shouted.

Tawni pursed her lips, returned her gaze to the road, and didn't say anything else.

Well.

That didn't reassure me at all.

After what felt like ages of riding in Tawni's car (during which I tortured myself by thinking of my mom and what Penelope might be doing to her at that moment), we finally arrived at my apartment. The second Tawni unlocked the door, I jumped out of the car, ran down the sidewalk as fast as possible, barged past the doorman and through the front doors of the apartment...

...and bumped right into a certain three-named someone.

I recoiled. "Chad!" I gasped, momentarily distracted from my mission at the sight of him. "What're you doing here? And how did you get here before we did?"

Chad jumped back, too (he obviously hadn't been expecting me to slam into him the way I did), looking startled, before quickly fixing his shirt and saying, "I drive fast." Oh, yeah, that was true (and he doesn't ever get tickets for speeding. Darn him).

At that moment, Tawni came up beside me and stopped short when she saw Chad. "Why're you here?" she hissed, repeating what I'd asked earlier.

Chad looked over at me with those piercing blue eyes of his and said simply, "You need me, so I'm here."

Next to me, Tawni scoffed derisively. But I ignored her and just frowned at Chad.

I honestly wasn't thinking too much about what he'd said at the time, since, you know, my mom's life was at stake. I just wanted to find my mom and know she was safe, and I didn't have time to worry about Chad or all the confusing things he constantly kept doing.

But thinking back on it now... he looked so concerned, and dependable, and safe, and... there. Even though he'd made lots of mistakes and had hurt me multiple times, he'd (almost) always been there for me. And as far as I was concerned, that spoke volumes.

So I guess, in a way, he was right. If I had to face the worst, then I wanted Chad to be beside me. I don't know if I _needed _him there, but his presence would definitely comfort me a tiny bit.

...Could I possibly get any more pathetic?

I bit my lower lip, hesitating, before finally giving him a small nod of reluctant acceptance. Then I quickly tore my gaze away before I could get lost in his sparkly eyes. _Not the time, Sonny! _I berated myself. _Mom. Is. In. Danger. Focus!_

"Let's take the stairs," I said, whirling hurriedly in the direction of the stairs that led to the upper floors. Now that my brief moment of distraction had passed, urgency took over and caused me to practically fly up those stairs. I didn't take the time to listen to Tawni, who was protesting that she'd rather take the elevator, or Chad, who was yelling at me to wait up. _Please be ok, Mom, _please_ be ok..._

When I arrived on my floor, I darted out into the hallway and rushed over to the very last door. Our door. Once I was near, I came to an abrupt halt, panting slightly from running so fast and staring at the white door. Dread filled me. I wanted so badly to get to my mother, but at the same time I was terrified of what I might find behind that door.

Footsteps sounded behind me, and then Chad and Tawni were by my side, both out of breath. They looked from me, to the door, then back to me. Neither of them said anything, but they both looked apprehensive, like they were waiting for me to do something.

I bit my lip, trying to muster up the bravery to open the stupid door, when suddenly an idea hit me. There was a spare key under the doormat. If it was still there, then it was all good. I mean, Penelope couldn't possibly know where we kept our spare key. Maybe there was no danger after all!

I dropped to my knees and eagerly lifted the doormat, mentally crossing my fingers...

...and my heart immediately dropped.

There was nothing there except floor. Empty space. "The spare key's gone," I said slowly, stunned. Trembling slightly, I stood up and looked back at the door. "Guys, I'm scared," I whispered.

Tawni scoffed. "Girl up, Sonny. There's nothing to be scared about." I knew she wasn't saying that to be mean, but because it was her way of trying to make me feel better. But I could tell from her face that she was worried.

Chad, on the other hand, didn't say a word. All he did was brush his fingers lightly against mine, something he hadn't done for a long time. On a normal occassion, I probably would have retaliated somehow. But this time I let him.

All right. Enough was enough. I had to find out sooner or later. I took a deep breath, then, before I could change my mind, I reached over and turned the doorknob. The door instantly swung open wide. Next to me, Tawni and Chad gasped.

I honestly had no idea what I'd been expecting. But it certainly wasn't this.

The whole room was completely trashed. Our comfy green sofa was lying on its side, with the pillows scattered randomly across the floor. A few knick knacks were lying broken on the table, and a few pictures hung awkwardly on their nails. Vases were smashed, our kitty clock was broken, and there were broken glass shards everywhere.

I stared around the room in horror. "Why would Penelope do this?"

"Because she's a lunatic," Chad spat vehemently, glaring at a dark spot on the rug. My eyes were drawn to that spot. Was that... blood? I felt sick to my stomach. I shakily walked forward, careful to avoid the glass shards and that scary dark mark on the ground, and made my way over to the window, which was wide open. Penelope must have come in and escaped through there. A cool breeze blew past my face as I poked my head outside and looked down, hoping to maybe catch a glimpse of Penelope or my mom. But all I saw were dozens of cars zooming down the street.

"I'll head back downstairs and see if the doorman noticed anyone suspicious coming in," Tawni said helpfully, turning and rushing out the door as fast as she could go in her high heels.

Meanwhile, Chad was inspecting a broken picture frame. "I wonder why no one heard anyone in here breaking all this stuff," he remarked.

"Who cares?" I snapped, whirling around to glare at him. "Who cares about any of these things? They're just _stuff! _They don't mean anything!" It was probably wrong to lash out at Chad, since he was trying to help me and all, but I needed to take out my frustrations on something. Clenching my fists, I squeezed my eyes shut, hoping maybe that would help to force down the tears that were threatening to leak out. But my voice still shook when I said, "All that matters is Mom. I don't care if Penelope burns our whole apartment down, so long as she's safe."

Chad gazed at me, looking concerned. His obvious worry for my well being made me wanted to throw something. I was so _sick _of everyone looking at me with sympathy, like they thought I was defenseless because of the threat of Penelope looming over. Well, I wasn't! I appreciated that they all cared for me, but they needed to quit looking at me like that, because it didn't get us anywhere!

Before Chad could say anything, I resolutely turned away from him and headed into my room, holding my head high and doing my best not to let him see how close I was to bawling like a baby.

To my surprise, my room wasn't as messed up as the rest of our apartment. There were only a few minor differences, like the fact that my bedsheets were on the floor, and the drawers of my desk were pulled wide open, and the picture on top of my bed was gone -

Wait. What?

I rushed over to the bed headboard, where one of my most prized possessions (well, sort of) had been sitting for months. Stunned, I looked around the room, thinking maybe I'd just misplaced it, but after checking underneath my bed and searching in my closet, I knew it was hopeless. "It's gone," I murmured, frowning. The autographed picture that Chad had given me two years ago seemed to have disappeared out of nowhere. (And before I go on, I know what you're thinking. Chad and I broke up. Why was that picture still on top of my bed? Honestly, I didn't really have the heart to take it down. And... I don't know... it was nice to look at? You know what, I'm gonna quit trying to explain, I'm just confusing myself)

But I knew better than that. It hadn't just disappeared. It'd been _taken_. By Penelope. Obviously she was still creepily obsessed with Chad. A thought suddenly occurred to me. Maybe that was why Penelope had trashed my apartment in the first place, because she was searching for that picture.

Still, even for an insane person, that didn't make a whole lot of sense.

And then there was the whole thing with my mom that I had to consider. Just thinking about it made a lump form in my throat.

I jolted as a loud _MOO! _issued from my pocket. I snatched my phone out and pressed on a button, and immediately a new text message popped up.

_U like the nu decorations?_

As I gaped at my phone, another message appeared in my inbox. I hesitantly clicked on it, and another text came up.

_U got off easy. Watch ur step, cuz I got more fun stuf planned for u. - M_

I bit my lip and placed my phone back in my pocket, then turned and walked back into the living room. For the moment, I was going to have to push Penelope's texts to the back of my mind.

Outside, Tawni had returned and was telling Chad huffily, "I told you, he didn't see anyone that even closely resembled Penelope. All he saw were the usual people that come here."

"Yeah, well, what if Penelope was dressed up like the usual people?" he shot back.

"That's insane."

"Well, if you haven't noticed, Blondie, we're dealing with a _maniac _here!"

"What about my mom?" I cut in, causing Tawni and Chad to shut up and look at me. "Did he say anything about my mom? Did he see her?"

Tawni's expression softened, and she shook her head. "Sorry, Sonny, he says he hasn't seen her since this morning."

Before she'd even finished, I'd darted over to the phone hanging on the wall. "I'll call the police," I said, grabbing the phone off the hook and beginning to dial. Then I realized I didn't hear a tone, and I looked down to see that the cord had been cut. "Please work," I begged, shaking the phone. "Work, work!"

Chad told me to calm down, and Tawni offered to call from her cell instead. But I was in a slightly hysterical state of mind, so I just yelled at them in a way that probably didn't sound very appreciative, and then somehow this caused us to all start arguing and yelling at each other.

This would have gone on for a while, had it not been for a familar voice from the doorway that caused us all to freeze. "I'm back, sorry I'm late... Wha...? What happened here? Young lady, you've got some explaining to do!"

I whirled around, my eyes wide, and almost sobbed from pure relief. Ignoring the fact that Tawni and Chad were in the room, staring silently with their mouths open, I cried out, "Mommy!", burst into tears, and launched myself forward into the arms of my startled, but still living and breathing, mother.

_~.M.y.D.i.L.e.M.m.A.~_

After a tearful reunion with my mom (well, tearful for me), she demanded to know what was going on and what the heck had happened to our apartment. Over the course of the past week, I'd done my best to keep all this Penelope stuff hidden from her, so that she wouldn't worry over me needlessly. But now I didn't really have much choice, so, with the help of Tawni and Chad, I told her everything, from me being fired to the death threats I'd received to those horrible texts. I didn't mention the thing about Patrick, though. I would deal with that later, by myself. When? I had no clue.

"Sonny, why didn't you tell me about this before?" she asked gently, hugging me and stroking my hair in that comforting way that moms do. I closed my eyes and clung to her. I was still so happy that Penelope hadn't gotten to her, the way I'd feared. "I didn't want you to freak out. I'm sorry."

She kissed my forehead. "It's ok, sweetie."

"Ms. Munroe," Chad interrupted, "Where exactly were you this whole time?"

Mom looked over at him, furrowing her eyebrows. "Well, I was out looking for a new job, and when I came back I got stuck in a traffic jam."

"But Mom, how come you didn't answer any of my calls?" I asked, pulling away to stare at her.

"My phone was off," she said apologetically, then hugged me once more. "I'm so sorry for worrying you, sweetheart. I'll be sure to keep my phone on from now on. Unless it, you know, dies."

I giggled lightly at her lame joke, then looked over at Tawni and Chad. "Thanks, guys. I probably didn't show it right, but... I'm really grateful that you came here with me."

"Well, you sort of forced me to, but you're welcome," Tawni said nonchalantly with a roll of her eyes, but she was smiling. Chad just shrugged, looking sullen. I think he was kind of mad at me for yelling at him earlier. I suppose I couldn't blame him for that. I mouthed 'sorry' to him, but he'd turned his face away. I sighed, giving up. As my mom went to the kitchen to go brew some coffee and get a broom to sweep up all the mess, I looked at Tawni. "Hey, Tawn, I have one more teeny, tiny favor to ask you..."

She groaned. "Sonny, your teeny, tiny favors? They're never teeny _or_ tiny."

I chose to ignore that. "Do you think you could maybe stay over tonight?"

"Hmm, lemme think - NO."

"Please?" I asked. "This might sound stupid, but I'm kind of scared to sleep in my room alone."

Tawni was silent for a second, but then she sighed heavily. "Ok, fine, but only because your life is taking a horrible turn and all. You'll owe me. And you better have a very nice sleeping bag prepared for me," she snapped. Shaking her head, she stood up, her phone already in her hand, and began to walk off, saying over her shoulder, "I'm gonna go call my mom and tell her that I'll be sleeping here tonight."

Tawni disappeared into my room, and then it was just me and my ex-boyfriend. "Chad - " I started to say, but he stood up before I could go on. "I'm just gonna go now, then," he said curtly, heading towards the door. "G'night, Sonny."

I grabbed his hand. "I'm sorry," I blurted out. "Whatever I said that upset you, I didn't mean it."

He gently pried his hand away from mine. "I know. I'm not mad at you, though. It's just... well..." He closed his eyes and ran a hand through his hair. "Never mind," he murmured. Then, before I could ask what he meant, he walked out of the room, and I found myself staring blankly at the door he'd closed behind him.

Later on, when Mom and I had cleaned up the apartment so that it looked relatively neat and orderly, I changed into my pajamas (Tawni refused to wear any of my other PJs when I offered them to her, because apparently they were too ugly for her tastes. I personally don't see how it mattered, but whatever) and then tucked myself into bed.

Tawni, meanwhile, sat on the pink Barbie sleeping bag I'd set out for her, moaning and complaining about how the lack of Cocoa Moco Cocoa was slowly killing her. "Tawni, please be quiet so I can sleep," I groaned, resisting the urge to throw a pillow at her.

She pouted at me. "Well, you should've thought about that before you asked me to stay overnight." For a blissful minute, there was silence. Then Tawni asked quietly, "So what're you gonna do now?"

The seriousness of her tone made me roll over on my side to look at her. "What do you mean?"

"Isn't it obvious? You and your mom can't stay here anymore," she pointed out. "Penelope knows where you live. She could come back any time and do something much worse. Your mom was lucky this time, but we don't know what'll happen next time."

I'd actually been thinking about that, but I hadn't voiced my thoughts out loud. I'd been hoping I was just being paranoid. Guess not. "Well, what do you suggest we do? Move to Canada?"

"Uh... no. But I'm thinking you just need to stay somewhere safe. Somewhere Penelope can't find." She snapped her fingers, hopped to her feet, and rushed out into the living room. A few seconds later, she returned, carrying a large phone book. "We just have to find a place in here that Penelope would never think of looking for you, and then hope to God that you're allowed to stay there," she announced with a smirk. "Aren't I brilliant?"

Ok, so it was a good idea. But I'd had an exhausting day, and I was worn out. The only thing on my mind was sleep. "Can't we just discuss this in the morning?" I grumbled.

She didn't seem to hear me and went ahead rambling off a list of addresses. Since she was obviously putting effort into trying to help me (who would've known that Tawni Hart could be such a kind, caring person? Definitely not me), I tried to pay attention, but I kept losing focus. I'm pretty sure I even drifted off a few times.

Then, during one of those moments when I was snoozing, Tawni gasped loudly, causing my poor, tired self to be rudely jerked awake. "What?" I groaned, wanting nothing more than to duck under the covers. "Are you done yet?"

Tawn just stared at me. "I can't believe I didn't think of this before," she said slowly. "And ok, it's not exactly something I'd normally approve of, but under the circumstances..."

That sort of piped my curiosity and made me temporarily forget about my sleepiness. "What are you talking about?"

Tawni crawled over to my side of the bed and held out to phone book for me to look at. "See?"

"Um... see what?"

"His address isn't there."

I peered at the section she was pointing at. All the last names on that particular page began with C. Shaking my head, I said in exasperation, "Tawni, we've been over this before. Santa doesn't have an address because he doesn't exi - "

"I'm not talking about Santa Claus!" she said, frowning at me. "And he exists. I _know_ he exists. But that's not the point." Pulling the book away, she said in her usual haughty voice, "I am _talking _about _Chad_."

I blinked. I didn't understand. At all.

When Tawni saw my uncomprehending expression, she rolled her eyes. "See, Chad's address got taken out of all the phone books once he got on Mackenzie Falls, because otherwise girls would come stalk him at his house."

"They can take addresses out?" was all I could think of to ask.

"Apparently if you're CDC, they can," Tawni said, making a face. "Anyway, what I'm trying to say is, his address isn't in here. So Penelope wouldn't have any idea where the heck he lives. It's the perfect place for you to stay while this whole thing blows over!"

I absorbed for a minute, then shook my head. "No. I'm not going to stay at _Chad's _house."

"But think about it!" Tawni waved the book in front of my nose. "No one, not even Penelope, would expect America's Sweetheart to go sleep over at her ex-boyfriend's house. It'd be so out of character! I mean, does that _sound_ like something you would do?"

...She had a point. "Well - " I started to say, but she cut me off. "Exactly. So, you see, it's pretty much the only choice you've got. You know, if you don't want to be murdered while you sleep."

"Thanks, Tawn," I said sarcastically. "I'm going to sleep so well tonight now."

"Like I said, should've thought about that before you invited me over," Tawni said with a shrug. "Anyway, I know I'm right, so that's all that really matters, isn't it? And don't answer that."

I let out a breath of air and plopped my head back down on the pillow. "Can we please just talk about this tomorrow?"

"Ugh, fine," Tawni said, shaking her head. "Think about it, though. Well, good night, Sonny!" With that, she tossed aside the phone book, climbed back under her sleeping bag, and fell asleep.

I turned off the lamp and snuggled under my covers, clinging tightly to my teddy bear (so I still sleep with a stuffed animal. Whatever). I had a feeling that Tawni was probably right. But that didn't mean I was just going to go along with that plan willingly. I didn't want to have to stay at Chad's house! I mean, how awkward would that be?

Closing my eyes, I decided to just think about all of this tomorrow. I'd had way too much excitement for one day, and what my body needed now was some sleep.

Just as I was drifting off to dreamland, my last conscious thought was of something that had been bugging me practically all day:

Chad still hadn't told me how he'd known I was getting fired.

* * *

><p><strong>Phew, her mom's ok. But what will Penelope stoop to doing next? And what is this thing that Chad still has yet to explain?<strong>

**Reviews are very much appreciated :'3**


	8. Author's Note (and Apology)

That awkward moment when the author of a fanfic disappears for about forever and then suddenly comes back to apologize. e 3 e

So, um, hey guys! I just wanted to say that, yes, I'm still alive. And I'm really, _really _sorry that I haven't updated this story or my other two SWAC fanfics, CDC On and MSLS. I actually feel really guilty, especially when I think about all my regular reviewers. I've been meaning to make an author's note about this, but I didn't find the time until now, after I got a PM from someone asking me if I was ever going to update my fics.

I have no excuse, really. Except that, well, after SWAC ended... I think I kind of lost my inspiration? Also, sophomore year has kind of been hell. I've been so busy. D:

But through all this time, I always kept thinking about these stories and how much I wanted to keep on writing them. And even though it's taking me a while, I really do intend to finish these stories. I don't care how long it takes me. I _will _get them done, somehow, someday.

I just wanted to let you all know that. Hopefully there are still people on the SWAC fanfic section. If you're still here, and you're one of the people who have been waiting for an update, then I just want you to know that I'm so sorry for how obnoxiously long I've taken.

But I think I'm ready to start writing again.

So if you're still here, I hope you keep reading my stories when I do add new chapters. C:

Love you guys!

~ Ginger


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